JUNE 1,

JSARRS BUFFON.

This Day is published, price }s. 6d. with the Plates beautifully

valour ed, or Is. plain, NUMDER I.— OF A NEW EDITION

BUFFON'S

CONTAINING

THE THEORY OF THE EARTH,

A General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, of Vegetables, Minerals, fyc.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH AND INTERSPERSED WITH NOTES,

BY J. S. BARR, ESQ.

To which is added, forming a complete Supplement,

Natural ^tetorg of 2$irte, dFi$)c$, &eptil**,

ADDRESS.

THE name of BUFFON, as the luminous and philosophical Historian of Na- ture, is too illustrious to need the aid of panegyric. He was the first that attempted to embellish the comparatively dry details on the subject, with the graces of an eloquent and impassioned style of writing; and hence, while the accuracy of his researches have commanded the assent of scientific men, the elegance and beauty of his illustrations have equally excited the admiration of tlie general reader. In almost every country of Europe his great Work has been translated ; but we will venture to say, in no one has it been done with more regard to the fidelity of the text, than in that which is now submitted to public patronage. With this view, indeed, not only has Buflfon himself

b««n scrupulously followed, but the additions and corrections of bis celebrated countryman, Sonnini, have been incorporated. The value of this addi- tional matter will be duly estimated by all who have had an opportunity of inspecting Sonnini's magnificent and expensive edition of Buffon, which was procured from the Continent expressly for the purpose of rendering the pre- sent Translation every way worthy of public approbation.

A Portrait of the Author, and an Account of his Life are prefixed ; and, added to the whole, there is a supplementary Volume, consisting entirely of Description! of Birds, discovered since the death of Buffon, as drawn up by Sonnini.

Contritions.

!. Thit valuable Work, forming, beyond companion, the most complete and elegant Natural History in thil or any other lan- guage, will be beautifully printed in Octavo, on superfine writing Paper.

It. It will be embellished with a nume- rout Set of elegant original Copper-plates ; the Subjects taken from Life, and engraved ill tbe best manner, by Milton and other celebrated Engravers.

III. The colouring of the Subject! will

be executed in a superior style, by Persons of the first ability in the Art.

IV. The Work will be completed in One Hundred Numbers, (published Weekly), price Is. fid. each, vitli the Plates accurately coloured, or Is. plain, making Sixteen hand- some Volumes.

f, For the accommodation of Purchasers of Former Edition*, the 16th, or Supplementary Volume, may be had separately, to complete thtir Sett.

*»• The whole of the Work having been printed off, it may be had COMPLETE :

Coloured. 1. ». A. 1 1 Plain. I. *. d.

In Boards . . . . 7 18 0 In Boards - - - - 580

Bound in Calf, and lettered - 0 10 0 II Bound in Calf, and lettered - 700 Calf, gilt and lettered - - 9 18 0 Calf, gilt and lettered - - 780

N. B. To prevent Mistakes, the Public are requested to ask for, or order, The A'fie Edition of Buffon s Natural History, translated by BARR.

Companion to Curtis s Botanical Magazine. Price 2s. 6d. with the Plates neatly coloured from Nature,

NUMBER I.—Of A COMPLETE COURSE

on

As delivered at the Botanical Garden at Lambeth,

BY WILLIAM CURTIS, F. L. S.

Author of the Botanical Magazine, &c. SECOND EDITION— TO WHICH IS ADDED,

A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR, BY DR. THORNTON.

ThU Course is completed in Thirty Numbers, and is embellished with 120 new Plates, illus- trafiTe of the Process of Vegetation, the Sexual System, &c. engraved by Sansom, from original Drawings by Edwards, and correctly coloured from Nature : they form three handsome Volumes, in royal Octavo, and may be had complete, Price 4l. in Boards, or, Half-bound, with Russia backs' and lettered, <{. 10s.

CURTIS'S PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS

ON THE

BRITISH GRASSES.

Fifth Edition, with Additions, by J. LAWRHNCF.. Price 6s. boards ; or, with the Plates coloured, 8s. 6d.

London :— Published by Sherwood, JW.y, and Jone*, Paternoster Row and may be had of all Booksellers.

- .: - .

'

-

i. •

DESCRIPTION

NEW SOUTH WALES,

A ^STATISTICAL, HISTORICAL, AND POLITICAL

DESCRIPTION

Its trepenfcent Settlements

IN

VAN DIEMBN'S LAND:

WITH

A PARTICULAR ENUMERATION OP THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THESK

COLONIES OFFER FOR EMIGRATION, A DEMONSTRATION OF THEIR

SUPERIORITY IN MANY RESPECTS OVER THOSE POSSESSED BY

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ; AND A WORD OP

ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS.

CF&ition,

CONSIDERABLY ENLARGED, AND EMliKLLISHED WITH A VIEW Ot THE TOWN OF SYDNEY, AND A MAP.

BY w. C.VENTWORTI^ESQ.

A NATIVE OF THE COLONY^/

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR G. AND W. B. WHITTAKER,

AVK- MARIA LANE. 1820.

W. SHACKELL, Printer, Johnson'«-court, Kleet-Mreef, London.

ou

IS2.D

PREFACE

TO THE

FIRST EDITION.

IT may prevent those inquiries that would be naturally made by the public, respecting the manner in which the author acquired the information contained in this work, when he states that he was born in the colony of New South Wales, and that he resided there for about five years since his arrival at the age of maturity. This is a period which will, at least, be allowed to have been sufficient for acquiring a correct knowledge of its state and government, and for enabling him to observe the destructive tendency of those measures, of which it has been his endeavour to demonstrate the injustice and impolicy, and to procure the

b

788660

VI PREFACE.

speady repeal. He would not, however, have it concluded that the present work has been the result of mature and systematic reflection. It is, on the contrary, a hasty production, which ori- ginated in the casual suggestions of an acquain- tance, and which was never contemplated by him, during his long residence in the colony. He has consequently been obliged not only to omit giving a detail of many interesting facts, with which he might have become acquainted previously to his departure ; but Inns also been under the necessity of relying in a great mea- sure on the fidelity of his memory for the accu- racy of many of those circumstances which he has stated :— still he is not without hope, that five years' attentive observation will have ena- bled him to communicate many particulars, of which, in the absence of abler works on the same subject, most of the inhabitants of this country cannot but be ignorant, and many must wish to be apprized.

His only aim, in obtruding this hasty produc- tion on the public, is to promote the welfare and prosperity of the country which gave him

PREFACE. Vll

birth ; and he has judged that he could in no way so effectually contribute his mite towards the accomplishment of this end, as by attempt- ing to divert to its shores from the United States of America some part of that vast tide of emi- gration, which is at present flowing thither from all parts of Europe. In furtherance, therefore, of this design, he has described the superior advantages of climate and soil possess- ed by this colony ; — he has explained the causes, why these natural superiorities have not yet been productive of those beneficial consequences which might have been expected from thorn ; — he has pointed out the arguments which offer for the abandonment of the present system, and the substitution of another in its place ; — and by adducing, in fine, what he considers to be irrefragable proofs of the expediency, merely as it regards the parent country, of adopting the measures which he has proposed, he hopes that he shall eventually occasion an alteration of polity, by which both the parties concerned will be equally benefited. He has not, how- ever, presumed on a contingency which it is thus reasonable to believe cannot be either doubtful

b 2

Vlll PREFACE.

or remote ; but has restricted himself to an enu- meration of the inducements to emigration which exist under actual circumstances ; and, by comparing them with the advantages which those writers, who have given the most favour- able accounts of the United States of America have represented them as possessing, he has proved that this colony, labouring as it is under all the discouragements of an arbitrary and im- politic government, has still a great and decided preponderancy in the balance. How much this preponderancy will be increased, whenever the changes and modifications, which he has ven- tured to suggest, shall be in whole, or in part carried into effect, he has left to all such as are desirous of emigrating to form their own estimate ; and to decide also how much longer a system so highly burdensome to the parent country, and so radically defective in its prin- ciples and operation, is likely to be tolerated. To all those, who are of opinion with him that it cannot be of much longer duration, the in- ducements for giving this colony the preference will become so weighty, as scarcely to admit of the possibility that they should hesitate for

PREFACE. IX

a moment in their choice between the two countries.

If, in the course of this work, he has spoken in terms of unqualified reprobation of the bane- ful system, to which the unhappy place of his nativity has been the victim, he would have it distinctly understood, that it has been fur- thest from his thoughts to connect the censure, which he has bestowed on it, with those who have permitted its continuance. He is too deeply impressed with a sense of the arduous and momentous nature of the contest which they have had to conduct, not to allow that it was justly entitled to their first and chief attention. Our whole colonial system, in fact, he considers to have been but a mere under- plot in the great drama that was acting. It could not, therefore, be reasonably expected that the grievances of any one colony should be- come the subject of minute and particular inves- tigation ; and still less could it be imagined that the government should convert their attention to the relief of one, which has comparatively excited but a small share of public interest, and

PREFACE.

has hitherto been considered more in the light of a prison, than of what he has endeavoured to prove it might be rendered, — one of the most useful and valuable appendages of the empire. This apology, however, for the neglect which the colony has experienced during the war, cannot be pleaded in vindication of a perseve- rance in the same impolitic and oppressive course in time of peace. Nor is it to be won- dered at, as upwards of three years have now elapsed since the consolidation of the tranquillity of the world, that the colonists should begin to feel indignant at the continuance of disa- bilities, for the abrogation of which the most powerful considerations of justice and expedi- ency have been urged in vain. To remove such just grounds for dissatisfaction and com- plaint, and to allow them, at length, the enjoy- ment of those rights and privileges, of which they ought never to have been debarred, would, at best, be but a poor compensation for an impeded agriculture and a languishing com- merce ; but it is the only one that can now be offered ; and, although it cannot repair the wide ravages which so many years of unmerited and

PREFACE. XI

absurd restrictions have occasioned, it may arrest the progress of desolation, and prevent any further increase to the numbers who have already sunk beneath the pressure of an over- whelming system. It is, therefore, to be hoped that the cause of humanity will no longer be outraged by unnecessary delay, and that the only atonement, which can be made the colo- nists for their past and present sufferings, will no longer be withheld.

The author is fully aware that, in the course of this work, he has developed no new prin- ciple of political economy, and that he has only travelled in the broad beaten path in which hundreds have journeyed before him. For troubling, therefore, the public with a repeti- tion of principles, of which the truth is so generally known and acknowledged, the only plea he can urge in his justification is a hope that the reiteration of them will not be deemed unnecessary and obtrusive, so long as their application is incomplete ; so long as vice and misery prevail in any part of the world, from the want of their adoption and enforcement.

PREFACE

TO THE

SECOND EDITION.

THE favourable manner, in which the first edition of this work was received by the public, has induced the author to bestow considerable care and attention on the revision and improve- ment of this second edition. Such of the state- ments as he has had reason to believe were either unfounded or exaggerated have been omitted or rectified ; — large additions to the text have been made, principally with a view to the information and guidance of emigrants ; — an accurate map, comprehending Hunter's River, or the Coal River, the district of Illawarra or the Five Islands, Shoal Haven River,' and the more contiguous parts of the immense country lately discovered to the westward of the Blue

XIV PREFACE.

Mountains, has been added, together with an engraving of the town of Sydney ; and, as the want of them was much felt and complained of, it is trusted they will render the local descriptions contained in the work much more intelligible. Upon the whole the author hopes that the present edition will be found much more worthy the patronage ©f the public, — than the preceding.

In the alterations, which he has been in- duced to make in his calculations on the profits to be derived from the investment of capital in the breeding of fine woolled sheep, — lie has acted in obedience to the opinions of some of his friends rather than in conformity with his own judgment. The present low prices of wool are confessedly the effect of the universal stagnation of commerce ; and, unless it be imagi- ned that this stagnation is to continue, it cannot be disputed that they do not afford any fair data, by which to regulate the future average value of this,— the staple export of the colony. And as the author is not of the number of those who believe that the embarrassment and dis-

PREFACE. XV

tress occasioned by the late war are likely to be permanent, he has only been persuaded to sub- stitute these reduced prices for those higher ones, on which the calculations in the former edition were founded, — in order to prevent the possibility of its being attributed to him by any person, however illiberally disposed, — that he has any intention to mislead those who are desirous of emigrating in the choice of their future des- tination. He feels perfectly convinced that the preference which is due to this colony as a place for emigration will soon be generally under- stood and willingly conceded. The superiority which it possesses in this respect over all other colonies and countries is too striking to need any fictitious embellishment ; and its real in- trinsic advantages are such that the exaggera- tion of its friends is as little required to promote its future progress,- — as the efforts of its enemies will be impotent talmpede it.

The heavy discouragements to emigration, which at the time this work was originally pub- lished,— were to be found in the nature of the colonial government, and in the numerous op-

XVI PREPACK,

pressive and impolitic regulations to which it had given birth, it will be seen by the notes that have been added to this edition, have for the most part been either removed or mitigated. The power of taxation, hitherto arbitrarily exer- cised by the local government, has been solemn- ly abrogated in parliament ; — the trade between the mother country and the colony, which was restricted to vessels of not less than 350 tons burden, has been thrown open to vessels of all sizes; — a colonial secretary,- — an officer, the want of whom for many years has been most severely felt, has been appointed ; — a council too, it is understood, is to be created : — internal distillation either has been or is to be permit- ted ; — the duties on oils procured in the colo- nial vessels are to be removed, and there is little doubt that the constitution of the courts of jus- tice will be revised and rendered adequate to the increased wants of the colony, as soon as the report of the Committee of the House of Commons, who are now occupied among other things with an inquiry into its state, and that of the Commissioner, who is gona out thither to prosecute a similar inquiry on

PREFACE, XV11

the spot, shall be submitted to the conside- ration of his Majesty's Government. In short, it is probable that all the privileges, which the Author has contended for, will be conceded, excepting, perhaps, Trial by Jury, and the establishment of a House of Assembly ; and, if these privileges should be withheld a little lon- ger, he feels persuaded that it will only be from u conviction in the minds of his Majesty's mi- nisters that the colony has not yet arrived at a sufficient degree of maturity for the reception and exercise of them. Government have fully proved, by the attention which they are now paying to this colony, that they are at length awakened to a due sense of its importance, and that they are really disposed to promote its prosperity. And if the concessions, which either have been made, or which it is in con- templation to make, are not of so extensive and satisfactory a description, as to leave the colo- nists nothing further to desire ; yet they are such, that combined with the natural superiori- ties of the soil and situation of'this colony, they cannot fail in the course of a few years to ren- der it not only the most flourishing depen-

XV111 PREFACE.

dency of the British Empire ; but the most thriving community in the world. Nor should those persons, who are bent on emigration, and who are not yet satisfied with the modifications or changes made or intended in the polity of this colony, forget that every freeman, who may land on its shores, will tend to swell its population to that height of respectability and importance, — the want of which is the only barrier to the immediate erection of that free representative system, which is essential to the complete development of its energies, and to the promotion of its full growth and prosperity.

To what the author has written in the suc- ceeding pages with reference to the commercial prospects, which the colony presents to emi- grants, he begs to add that the markets there are at present so glutted with every sort of merchandize, that he would by all means dis- suade any person from going out thither with views purely mercantile.

In recommending emigrants to settle with all possible celerity on their farms, he does not

PREFACE. XIX

mean to imply, that they should not allow themselves due time to ride about and examine the country, and to ascertain the advantages, and disadvantages of the various unappropria- ted districts. No stranger perhaps can do this properly, and besides render , himself familiar with the system of husbandry pursued in the colony, and with the character and habits of the people with whom he will have to deal, under six months. The time, which he may thus devote, he will find, will contribute most mate- rially to his subsequent success. But the Author again repeats, that, if the emigrant wish to husband his resources, he should remove with his family from Sydney as soon as possible, and hire a temporary residence in some of the in- land towns or townships.

NEW SOUTH WALES.

PART I.

Statistical Account of the Settlements in New Holland.

THE colony of New South Wales is situated on the eastern coast of New Holland. This island, which was first discovered by the Dutch in 1616, lies between the 9° and 39° of south latitude, and the 108° and 153° of east longitude ; and, from its immense size, seems rather to merit the appellation of continent, which many geographers have bestowed on it. Since that period it has been visited and examined by a galaxy of celebrated navigators, among whom Cook and Flinders rank the most conspicuous^ Still the survey of this large portion of the world cannot, by any means, be deemed com- plete ; since not one of all the navigators, who have laid down the various parts of its coast,

a

2 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THK

has discovered the mouth of any considerable river ; and it is hardly within the scope of pos- sible belief, that a country of such vast extent does not possess at least one river, which may deserve to be ranked in the class of " rivers of the first magnitude."

If a judgment were formed of this island from the general aspect of the country border- ing the sea, it would be pronounced one of the most barren spots on the face of the globe. Experience, however, has proved that such an opinion would be exactly the reverse of truth ; since, in as far as the interior has been explored, its general fertility amply compensates for the extreme sterility of the coast. .

The greater part of this country is covered with timber of a gigantic growth, but of an entirely different description from the timber of Europe. It is, however, very durable and well adapted to all the purposes of human in- dustry.

The only metal yet discovered is iron. It abounds in every part of the country, and in some places the ore is remarkably rich. Coals are found in many situations of the best quality. There is also abundance of slate, limestone and granite, though not in the immediate vicinity of

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 3

Port Jackson. Sand-stone, quartz, and free- stone are found every where.

The rivers and seas team with excellent fish ; but the eel and smelt, the mullet, whiting, mackerel, sole, skate, and John Dory are, I believe, the only sorts known in this country.

The animals are, the kangaroo, native dog, (which is a smaller species of the wolf,) the wombat, bandicoot, kangaroo-rat, opossum, fly- ing squirrel, flying fox, &c. &c. There are none of those animals or birds which go by the name of " game" in this country, except the heron. The hare, pheasant and partridge are quite unknown ; but there are wild ducks, widgeon, teal, quail, pigeons, plovers, snipes, &c. &c. with emus, black swans, cockatoos, parrots, parroquets, and an infinite variety of smaller birds, which are not found in any other country. In fact, both its animal and vege- table kingdoms are in a great measure peculiar to itself.

There are many poisonous reptiles in this country, but few accidents happen either to the aborigines, or the colonists from their bite. Of these the centipede, tarantula, scorpion, slow- worm, and the snake, are the most to be dread- ed, particularly the latter ; since there are, I

B 2

4 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

believe, at least thirty varieties, of which all but one are venomous in the highest degree.

The aborigines of this country occupy the lowest place in the gradatory scale of the human species. They have neither houses nor clothing : they are entirely unacquainted with the arts of agriculture ; and even the arms, which the several tribes have, to protect them- selves from the aggressions of their neighbours, and the hunting and fishing implements, with which they administer to their support, are of the rudest contrivance and workmanship.

Thirty years intercourse with Europeans has not effected the slightest change in their habits ; and even those, who have most intermixed with the colonists, have never been prevailed upon to practise one of the arts of civilized life. Dis- daining all restraint, their happiness is still cen- tered in their original pursuits ; and, they seem to consider the superior enjoyments to be derived from civilization, (for they are very far from be- ing insensible to them) but a poor compensation for the sacrifice of any portion of their natural liberty. The colour of these people is a dark chocolate ; their features bear a strong resem- blance to the African negro ; they have the same flat nose, large nostrils, wide mouth and thick lips : but their hair is not woolly, except

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 5

in Van Dieman's Land, where they have this further characteristic of the negro.

These people bear no resemblance to any of the inhabitants of the surrounding islands, ex- cept to those of New Guinea, which is only separated from New Holland by a narrow strait. One of these islands, therefore, has evidently been peopled by the other : but from whence the original stock was derived is one of those geographical problems, which in all probability will never be satisfactorily solved.

. Rude and barbarous as are the aborigines of

this country, they have still some confused notions of a Supreme Being and of a future state. It would, however, be foreign to the purposes to which I have limited myself, to enter into a detail of their customs and man- ners ; nor would it, indeed, be the means of increasing the fund of public knowledge ; since whoever may be anxious to be informed on these topics will find a faithful and minute account of them in the work of Mr. Collins.

SYDNEY.

Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, is situated in 33° 55' of south latitude, and 151° 25' of east longitude. It is about seven miles distant from the heads of Port Jackson, arid stands

6 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

principally on two hilly necks of land and the intervening valley, which together form Syd- ney Cove. The western side of the town extends to the water's edge, and occupies, with the exception of the small space reserved around Dawe's Battery, the whole of the neck of land which separates Sidney Cove from Lane Cove, and extends a considerable distance back into the country besides.

This part of the town, it may, therefore, be perceived, forms a little peninsula ; and what is of still greater importance the water is in general of sufficient depth in both these coves, to allow the approach of vessels of the largest burden to the very sides of the rocks.

On the eastern neck of land, the extension of the town has been stopped by the Government House, and the adjoining domain, which occu- pies the whole of Bennilong's Point, a circum- stance the more to be regretted, as the water all along this point is of still greater depth than on the western side of the Cove, and consequently affords still greater facilities for the erection of warehouses and the various important purposes of commerce.

The appearance of the town is rude and irregular. Until the administration of Go-

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 7

vernor Macquarie, little or no attention had been paid to the laying out of the streets, and each proprietor was left to build on his lease, where and how his caprice inclined him. He, however, has at length succeeded in establishing a perfect regularity in most of the streets, and has reduced to a degree of uniformity, that would have been deemed absolutely imprac- ticable, even the most, confused portion of that chaos of building, which is still known by the name of " the rocks; " and which, from the ruggedness of its surface, the difficulty of access to it, and the total absence of order in its houses, was for many years more like the abode of a horde of savages than the residence of a civilized community. The town upon the whole may be now pronounced to be tolerably regu- lar ; and, as in all future additions that may be made to it, the proprietors of leases will not be allowed to deviate from the lines marked out by the surveyor general, the new part will of course be free from the faults and inconve- niences of the old.

This town covers a considerable extent of ground, and would at first sight induce the be- lief of a much greater population than it actually contains. This is attributable to two circum- stances, the largeness of the leases, which in most instances possess sufficient space for a

8 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

garden, and the smallness of the houses erect- ed on them, which in general do not exceed one story. From these two causes it happens, that this town does not contain above seven thousand souls, whereas one, that covered the same extent of ground in this country, would possess a population of at least twenty thousand. There are in the whole upwards of a thousand houses ; and, although they are for the most part small, and of mean appearance, there are many public buildings, as well as houses of individuals, which would not disgrace this great metropolis. Of the former class the public stores, the general hospital, and the barracks, are perhaps the more conspicuous ; of the latter the houses of Messrs. Lord, Riley, Howe, Un- derwood, and Nichols.

Land in this town is in many places worth at the rate of £1000 per acre, and is daily in- creasing in value. Rents are in consequence exorbitantly high. It is very far from being a commodious house that can be had for a hundred a year unfurnished.

Here is a very good market, although it is of very recent date. It was established by Governor Macquarie, in the year 3813, and is very well supplied with grain, vegetables, poultry, butter, eggs and fruit. It is, however,

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 9

only held three times a week ; viz. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It is a large oblong enclosure, and there are stores erected in it by the Governor, for the reception of all such provisions as remain unsold at the close of the market, which lasts from six o'clock in the morning in summer, and seven o'clock in winter, until three o'clock in the evening. The vender pays in return a small duty to the clerk of the market, who accounts quarterly for the amount to the treasurer of the police fund. In the year 1817, the value of these duties was £130.*

Here also is a Bank, calledt "The Bank of New South Wales,"which was established in the year 1817, and promises to be of great and permanent

* Vide Market Duties in the Appendix. The mode of collecting those duties has lately been changed. At present they are farmed to the best bidder, and in May, 1819, they were disposed of by public vendue for the sum of £360 for one year, so rapid has been the growth of this market.

t The last accounts received from the colony state that those valuable institutions, Saving Banks, have been just introduced there, and are likely to be attended with the most beneficial effects on the habits and morals of the poorer classes. Gentlemen of undoubted responsibility have under- taken to act as receivers in the various districts, and a con- siderable sum of money has already been lodged in their hands. The depositors are allowed eight per cent, per annum, for all (he money they keep in these banks for the space of one year ; but they receive no interest if it is withdrawn sooner.

10 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE .

benefit to the colony in general. Its capital is £20,000, divided into two hundred shares. It has a regular charter of incorporation, and is under the controul of a *president and six di- rectors, who are annually chosen by the pro- prietors, The paper of this bank is now the principal circulating medium of the colony. They discount bills of a short date, and also ad- vance money on mortgage securities. ^They are allowed to receive in return an interest of ten per cent, per annum.

This town also contains two very good public schools, for the education of children of both sexes. One is a day school for boys, and is of course only intended to impart gratuitous instruc ion ; — the other is designed both for the education and support of poor and help- less female orphans. This institution was found- ed by Governor King, as long back as the year 1800, and contains about sixty children, who are taught reading, writing, arithmetic, sewing, and the various arts of domestic eco- nomy. When their education is complete, they are either married to free persons of good cha- racter, or are assigned as servants to such re- spectable families as may apply for them. At the time of the establishment of this school

* See Appendix.

t Last year the holders of stock received a dividend of 12]- per cent.

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 11

there was a large tract of land (12,300 acres,) attached to it ; and a considerable stock of horses, cattle, and sheep, were also transferred to it from the government herds. The profits of these stock go towards defraying the ex- penses of the school, and a certain portion, fifty or a hundred acres of the land, with a proportionate number of them, are given in dower with each female who marries with the consent of the committee intrusted with the management of this institution.

Besides these two public schools in the town of Sydney, which together contained, by the last accounts received from the colony, two hundred and twenty-four children, there are establishments for the gratuitous diffusion of education in every populous district throughout the colony. The masters of these schools are allowed stipulated salaries from the Orphan Fund. Formerly particular duties, those on coals and timber, which still go by the name of " The Orphan Dues," were allotted for the support of them ; but they were found to be insufficient, and afterwards one-fourth, and more recently one-eighth, of the whole revenue of the colony was appropriated to this purpose. This latter portion of the colonial revenue may be estimated at about £2500, which it must be

12 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

admitted could not be devoted to the promotion of any object of equal public utility.

Independently of these laudable institutions thus supported at the expense of the govern- ment, there are two private ones intended for the dissemination of religious knowledge, which are wholly maintained by voluntary contribu- tion. One is termed " The Auxiliary Bible Society of New South Wales," and its object is to co-operate with the British and Foreign Bible Society, and to distribute the holy Scriptures either at prime cost, or gratis, to needy and deserving applicants. The other is called " The New South Wales Sunday School Insti- tution," and was established with a view to teach well disposed persons of all ages how to read the sacred volume. These societies were instituted in the year 1817, and are under the direction of a general committee, aided by a secretary and treasurer.

There are in this town, and other parts of the colony, several good private seminaries for the board and education of the children of opulent parents. The best is in the district of Castle- reagh, which is about forty miles distant, and is kept by the clergyman of that district, the Rev. Henry Fulton, a gentleman peculiarly qualified

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 13

both fi'om his character and acquirements for conducting so responsible and important an undertaking. The boys in this seminary receive a regular classical education, and the terms are as reasonable as those of similar establishments in this country.

This town has possessed a weekly news- paper almost since the period of its founda- tion ; and as " nothing (as it has been justly observed in a celebrated Review,) can paint in a more lively manner the state of the set- tlement, its disadvantages and. prosperities, and the opinions and manners which prevail there," I subjoin the following interesting extracts and advertisements copied from the last Sydney Gazettes that have arrived in this country.

April 17, 1319.

" Sydney Academy, No. 93, Philip-street. Wanted a Drawing and a Dancing Master. Persons properly qualified, and who can give satisfactory testimonials as to character and abilities, will meet with liberal encouragement by applying as above. Likewise wanted a good Laundress.

" We had the pleasure on Wednesday the 7th of the present month, to witness the

14 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

launch of the new schooner built at H. M. dock yard, Sydney, by command of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, as a pre- sent for the King of the Sandwich Islands, and named by his Excellency the Governor, " The Prince Regent." She is a very fine vessel, her burden forty tons, and will be dispatched to the King of the Sandwich Is- lands as soon as completely rigged and pro- perly equipped for so long a voyage.

" Average prices of Articles at yesterday's Market. Wheat 8s. 3i.d. per bushel ; barley 7s. per do. ; maize 6s. 6d. per do. ; potatoes 7s. per cwt. ; eggs 2s. 9d. per doz. ; butter 2s. 6d. per pound ; fowls 3s. per couple.

April 24th.

" The Brig Jupiter, Captain Aimsworth, ar- rived at Hobart Town, on the 1st inst. from Kangaroo Island with a cargo of seal skins.

'* On Wednesday last, arrived from Port Dalrymple with wheat, the schooner Sinbad, commanded by Mr. Payne. Passenger, James Cox, Esq., and family.

May 1st.

" Mr. J. Gilchrist intends to resume his lectures and experiments in Natural Philo-

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 1

sophy, on the evening of Tuesday the llth inst. Tickets of admission to be had at his residence in Phillip-street.

May 8th.

" The public are hereby informed that a catechism for the use of schools and families, will be next week on sale at the house of Mr. Elder, Parramatta, with this assurance that they are not to be disposed of without much loss, as their printing price was three pence, all expenses included, and their selling price is the same. An account will in their publica- tion be inserted for the more general informa- tion, and it is the wish of the disinterested promoter of the said publication, that this effort should be encouraged. — The Editor.

" Sales by auction by Mr. Bevan, at the market place, Sydney, on Friday the 21st inst., at 10 o'clock precisely ; 53 head of horned cattle, 406 sheep, and 6 head of horses. Negociable bills will be taken in payment for all purchases above £20.

" For sale by public auction at the stores of Jones and R-iley on Friday next the 14th inst. for the benefit of the underwriters of the brig Greyhound (Thomas Ritchie, Mas- ter) or those whom it may concern, 190

16 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

chests, 59 half chests, and 144 small packages of hyson tea more or less damaged and broken, 20 bags of sugar slightly damaged, and some rum casks emptied to fill up leakage. The whole will be sold without reserve for prompt payment before the delivery of the goods. And at the same time and place, to close several consign- ments, Doosootie white Gurrahs, blue and red chintz, beautiful striped Curtahs, white cotton shirts, palempores, mock shawls, white beaver hats, plated table, desert, and tea spoons, and coir rope. Three months credit on approved negociable bills.

" Boarding and day school for young ladies, by Mrs. Hickey, Best-street, Sydney, opened for a limited number, where they will be in- structed in English grammar, writing, geo- graphy, and the French language.

" Terms — Under ten years board and tuition, including English grammar and plain work, per annum £20. Writing and arithmetic, do. £2 2s. Geography and the French language, each £2 2s. Day scholars for English and plain work, per week, 2s. Do. do. with writ- ing and arithmetic, 3s. Day boarders extra per quarter £2 12s. 6d.

Parents who may please to intrust her

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 17

\vith the care of their children, may depend on their being taught with the greatest assiduity, and every attention paid to their speedy improvement."

" To parents, guardians, &c. — Mr. Cuffe begs leave respectfully to acquaint his friends and the public that he has removed his day and evening schools from his late residence in Pitt- street to Macquarie-street, where every atten- tion is paid to the education of youth in all its branches, by himself and able assistants. Terms as usual. N. B. A Sunday school will be .charitably and morally attended to,"

May 29th.

" Hat Manufactory, No. 78, Pitt-street. Reuben Uther most respectfully begs leave to return his sincere thanks to the settlers and public in general, for the liberal support they have given to his manufactory ; and trusts that his unremitting exertions to make every pos- sible improvement will merit a continuance of that public patronage- which he has hitherto received. He has ready for sale some very handsome hats, neatly trimmed, and of a real good quality. Also youths hats of all sizes."

" S. Lord begs leave to inform his friends and the public that he has for sale at re-

18 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

duced prices a quantity of colonial cloth of superior manufacture : also ready made jackets and trowsers, blankets, hats and yarn stockings. And for the accommodation of settlers and others he will receive grain and animal food in payment for any of the above articles at the market price of the day. S. Lord is willing to take four or five boys from the age of eleven to thirteen years as apprentices to the woollen and hattery business."

SHIP NEWS.

June 5th.

" On Monday last returned from the Bay of Islands and Marquesas, laden with sandal wood and pork, the Colonial Ship, King George, Captain Beveridge. On Wednesday also returned from Port Macquarie with the Surveyor General on board, H. M. Colonial Brig, Lady Nelson, Mr. G. Brown, Master. She parted company with H. M. Cutter Mermaid, Lieutenant King, R. N. all well. Yesterday arrived from Boston, which port she sailed from last November, equipped for a sealing voyage, the American Brig, Ge- neral Yates, Captain Biggs."

" On the 1st of October will be published the first number of the Australasian Maga-

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 19

zine, or Quarterly Register; containing agri- cultural and commercial reports, original essays, British intelligence interesting to the Colony, with the domestic occurrences of the day, including philosophical, moral and poetical essays, with an appendix of the arrivals and departures, and every other matter connected with or concerning the inhabitants of these territories. Each number will be embellished with an appropriate engraving. The price of the publication to each subscriber. one dol- lar on delivery. N. B. The editors of the above work will be happy to insert any essays of merit, and invite accordingly a correspondence from their subscribers."

" Notice. Thomas Howard, of Macquarie-st. Parramatta, begs leave to inform the public and settlers, that he has now on hand several machines for the purpose of cleaning wheat, and will warrant them the best manufactured in the colony, for which wheat or maize wil be taken in payment."

" For sale by private contract, the proprie- tor being about to leave the colony by an early opportunity, six houses; situate in Cla- rence-street, viz. Nos. 36, 37, 40, 43, 56, and 57, all weather boarded and shingled, in thorough repair, and at present rented to tenants at c 2

20 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

will. For particulars enquire of Mr. William Kempton, 39, Clarence-street. "

"George Cribb begs leave to inform his friends and the public in general, especially house-keepers, that his shops in Cambridge- street and Pitt-street will supply them with the choicest meat, consisting of beef, mutton, lamb, and pork, at a price far less than any retail shop in Sydney, which can be known by application at either of the said shops.

" N.B. One month's credit will be given to responsible persons who must furnish them- selves with a pass book."

• " Mr. John Blaxland begs leave to inform

the public that he has erected a mill for the grinding of grain, the stories of which are the production of this colony, and that he will grind wheat at Is. per bushel. Any person found taking stones from his Luddenham Estate will be prosecuted.

Newington, June 4th, 1819."

The harbour of Port Jackson* is perhaps ex-

* A light-house has lately bsen erected on the South Head of Port Jackson, which is called the Macquai ie Tower, and is con- aidereda master-piece oi'its kind. Jt contains a revolving light, and is visible ten or twelve leagues off. Its appearance is

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 21

ceeded by none in the world except the Derwent in point of size and safety ; and in this latter particular, I rather think it has the advantage. It is navigable for vessels of any burden for

thus described by Captain Watson of the Ship Foxhound, who has lately arrived from the colony. " On Monday morning last at 3 A. M. saw the light bearing W. S. W. 38 Miles distance, but so brilliant that I thought it could not be more than twelve miles off. It was a certain guide, and at that distance had all the appearance of a luminous star." An accurate description of the height and bearings of this light-house his been made by Mr. Oxley, the Surveyor General, which as it may be useful to the captains of vessels trading to this Colony I subjoin ver- batim. " Macquarie Tower and Light-house is situated on the highest part of the outer south head of Port Jackson Har- bour, in Latitude 33° 51' 40" South, and Longitude 151° 16' 50" East from Greenwich. The height of the light from the base is 76 feet, and from thence to the level of the Sea 277 feet, being a total height of 353 feet. The inner South Head bears from the Light House N. by W. | W. distant li Mile. The outer North Head bears from it N. by E. 2 Miles. The inner South Head and outer North Head lie N. E. >- E. and S. W. | W. of each other distant 1 ^ Mile. The light can be seen from S. by E. to N.by E ; those lines of bearing clearing the coast line half a point each way, and maybe discovered from a ship's deck on a clear night eight leagues. The north end of the Sow and Pigs Reef bears from the inner South Head S. W. by W. half a Mile.

N B. The bearings are magnetic, and the distances compu- ted in nautic miles. The variation 9° Easterly.

(Signed) J. OXLEY, Surveyor General."

Sy dney, New South Wales, 29th April, 1818.

22 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

about seven miles above the town, i, e. about fifteen from the entrance. It possesses the best anchorage the whole way, and is perfectly shel- tered from every wind that can blow. It is said, and I believe with truth, to have a hundred coves, and is capable of containing all the ship- ping in the world. There can be no doubt, therefore, that in the course of a few years, the town of Sydney, from the excellence of its situ- ation alone, must become a place of considerable importance.

The views from the heights of the town are bold, varied and beautiful. The strange irre- gular appearance of the town itself, the nume- rous coves and islets both above and below it, the towering forests and projecting rocks, com- bined with the infinite diversity of hill and dale on each side of the harbour, form altogether a coup d'oeil, of which it may be safely asserted that few towns can boast a parallel.

The neighbouring scenery is still more diver- sified and romantic, particularly the different prospects from the hills on the south head road, immediately contiguous to the town. Looking towards the coast you behold at one glance the greater part of the numerous bays and islands which lie between the town and the heads, with the succession of barren, but bold and commanding hills, that bound the harbour,

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 23

and are abruptly terminated by the water. Further north, the eye ranges over the long chain of lofty rugged cliffs that stretch away in the direction of the Coal River, and distinctly mark the bearing of the coast, until they are lost in the dimness of vision. Wheeling round to the south you behold at the distance of seven or eight miles, that spacious though less eligible harbour, called " Botany Bay," from the pro- digious variety of new plants which Sir J oseph Banks found in its vicinity, when it was first discovered and surveyed by Captain Cook. To the southward again of this magnificent sheet of water, where it will be recollected it was the original intention, though afterwards judiciously abandoned, to found the capital of this colony, you behold the high bluff range of hills that stretch away towards the five islands, and likewise indicate the trending of the coast in that direction.

If you afterwards suddenly face about to the westward, you see before you one vast forest, uninterrupted except by the cultivated open- ings which have been made by the axe on the summits of some of the loftiest hills, and which tend considerably to diminish those melancholy sensations its gloomy monotony would otherwise inspire. The innumerable undulations in this vast expanse of forest,

24 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF TH&

forcibly remind you of the ocean when con- vulsed by tempests; save that the billows of the one slumber in a fixed and leaden stillness, and want that motion which constitutes the diversity, the beauty, and the sublimity of the other. Continuing the view, you arrive at that majestic and commanding chain of moun- tains, called " the Blue Mountains," whose stately and o'ertopping grandeur forms a most imposing boundary to the prospect.

If you proceed on the south head road, until you arrive at the eminence called "Belle Vue," the scenery is still more picturesque and grand ; since, in addition to the striking objects already described, you behold, as it were at your feet, although still more than a mile distant from you, the vast and foaming Pacific. In boisterous weather the surges, that break in mountains on the shore beneath you, form a sublime contrast to the still, placid waters of the harbour, which in this spot is only separated from the sea by a low sandy neck of land not more than half a mile in breadth ; yet is so completely sheltered, that no tempests can ruffle its tranquil surface.

PARRAMATTA.

The town of Parramatta is situated at the head of Port Jackson Harbour, at the distance

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 25

of about eighteen miles by water4, and fifteen by land, from Sydney. The river, for the last seven or eight miles, is only navigable for boats of twelve or fifteen tons burden. This town is built along a small fresh water stream, which falls into the river. It consists princi- pally of one street about a mile in length. It is surrounded on the south side by a chain of moderately high hills ; and, as you approach it by the Sydney road, it breaks suddenly on the view when you have reached the summit of them, and produces a very pleasing effect. The adjacent country has been a good deal cleared; and the gay mimosas, which have sprung up in the openings, form a very agree- able contrast to the dismal gloom of the forest that surrounds and o'ertops them.

The town itself is far behind Sydney in respect of its buildings; but it nevertheless contains many of a good and substantial con- struction. These, with the church, the government house, the new Orphan House, and some gentlemen's seats, which are situated on the surrounding eminences, give it, upon the whole, a very respectable appearance. There are two very good inns, where a travel- ler may meet with all the comfort and accom- modation that are to be found in similar establishments in the country towns of this

26 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

kingdom. The charges too are by no means unreasonable.

The population is principally composed of inferior traders, publicans, artificers, and la- bourers, and may be estimated, inclusive of a company which is always stationed there, on a rough calculation, at about twelve hundred souls.

There are two fairs held half yearly, one in March and the other in September ; they were instituted about five years since by the present governor, and already begin to be very nume- rously and respectably attended. They are chiefly intended for the sale of stock, for which there are stalls, pens, and every other conveni- ence, erected at the expense of the govern- ment ; for the use of these pens, &c. and to keep them in repair, a moderate scale of du- ties* is paid by the vendor.

This town has for many years past made but a very inconsiderable progress compared with Sydney. The value of land has consequently not kept pace in the two places, and is at least £200 per cent, less in the one than in the other. As this town, however, is in a central situa- tion between the rapidly increasing settlements

See Appendix.

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 27

on the banks of the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers, and Sydney the great mart for colo- nial produce, landed property here and in the .neighbourhood, will, without doubt, experience a gradual rise.

The public institutions are an Hospital, a Female Orphan House, into which it is intend- ed to remove the orphans from Sydney, and a factory, in which such of the female convicts as misconduct themselves, and those also, who upon their arrival in the colony are not imme- diately assigned as servants to families, are em- ployed in manufacturing coarse cloth. There are upon an average about one hundred and sixty women employed in this institution, which is placed under the direction of a superintend- ent, who receives wool from the settlers, and gives them a certain portion of the manufactur- ed article in exchange. What is reserved is only a fair equivalent for the expense of making it, and is used in clothing the gaol gang, the re- convicted culprits who are sent to the Coal River, and I believe the inmates of the factory itself.

There is also another public institution in this town, well worthy the notice of the phi- lanthropist. It is a school for the education and civilization of the aborigines of the country.

28 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

It was founded by the present governor three years since, and by the last accounts from the colony, it contained eighteen native children, who had been voluntarily placed in it by their^ parents, and were making equal progress in their studies with European children of the same age. The following extract from the Sydney Gazette, of January 4, 1817, may enable the reader to form some opinion of the beneficial consequences that are likely to result from this institution, and how far they may realize the benevolent intentions which actuated its philanthropic founder.

" On Saturday last, the 28th ult. the town of " Parramatta exhibited a novel and very in- " teresting spectacle, by the assembling of the " native tribes there, pursuant to the gover- " nor's gracious invitation. At ten in the " morning the market place was thrown open, " and some gentlemen, who were appointed on " the occasion, took the management of the u ceremonials. The natives having seated " themselves on the ground in a large circle, " the chiefs were placed on chairs a little ad- " vanced in front, and to the right of their " respective tribes. In the centre of the " circle thus formed, were placed large tables " groaning under the weight of roast beef, " potatoes, bread, &c. and a large cask of grog

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 29

** lent its exhilarating aid to promote the gene- " ral festivity and good humour which so con- " spicuously shone through the sable visages of •" this delighted congress. The governor, at- " tended by all the members* of the native in- " stitution, and by several of the magistrates " and gentlemen in the neighbourhood, pro- " ceeded at half past ten to the meeting, and " having entered the circle, passed round the ff whole of them, inquiring after, and making " himself acquainted with the several tribes, fe their respective leaders and residences. His " Excellency then assembled the chiefs by " themselves, and confirmed them in the ranks " of chieftains, to which their own tribes had " exalted them, and conferred upon them " badges of distinction ; whereon were engrav- " #d their names as chiefs, and those of their " tribes. He afterwards conferred badges of " merit on some individuals, in acknowledg- " ment of their steady and loyal conduct in tf the assistance they rendered the military " party, when lately sent out in pursuit of the " refractory natives to the west and south of " the Nepean River. By the time this cere- " mony was over, Mrs. Macquarie arrived, and " the children belonging to, and under the care " of the native institution, fifteen in number,

* Appendix. o; jiojnuorfla (imhtidb t^'t'illi odd ^

30 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

" preceded by their teacher, entered the circle, " and walked round it : the children appearing " very clean, well clothed and happy. The " chiefs were then again called together to " observe the examination of the children as " to their progress in learning and the civilized " habits of life. Several of the little ones read ; " and it was grateful to the bosom of sensibility 4t to trace the degrees of pleasure which the " chiefs manifested on this occasion. Some " clapped the children on the head ; and one " in particular turning round towards the " governor with extraordinary emotion, ex- " claimed, " Governor, that will make a good " settler, — that's my Pickaninny P' (meaning " his child.) And some of the females were " observed to shed tears of sympathetic affec- " tion, at seeing the infant and helpless off- " spring of their deceased friends, so happily " sheltered and protected by British benevo- " lence. The examinations being finished, the " children returned to the institution, under " the guidance of their venerable tutor ; whose " assiduity and attention to them, merit every " commendation.

u The feasting then commenced, and the go- " vernor retired amidst the long and reiterated " acclamations and shouts of his sable and grate- " ful congress. The number of the visitants, (ex- " elusive of the fifteen children) amounted to

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 31

" one hundred and seventy-nine, viz. one " hundred and five men, fifty-three women, " and twenty-one children. It is worthy of " observation that three of the latter men- " tioned number of children, (and the son of the <e memorable Benni-long was one of them) were " placed in the native institution, immediately "after the breaking up of the congress, -on " Saturday last, making the number of chil- " dren now in that establishment, altogether " eighteen ; and we may reasonably trust that " in a few years this benevolent institution " will amply reward the hopes and expecta- tions of its liberal patrons and supporters, " and answer the grand object intended, by " providing a seminary for the helpless off- " spring of the natives of this country, and " opening the path to their future civilization "and improvement."*

* These anticipations are likely soon to be realized, as will appear from the following extract from a Sydney Gazette of the 17th of April, 1819.

" Tuesday last an anniversary school examination took place at Parramatta, at which the children of the Native Institution were introduced, their number not exceeding twenty; while the schools of European children amounted nearly to one hundred. Prizes were prepared for distribution among such of the children as should be found to excel in the early rudiments of education, moral and religious, and it is not less strange than pleasing to remark, in answer to an erroneous opinion which had long prevailed with many, viz.

32 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

WINDSOR.

Inundations of the River Hawkesbury, $c. '

The town of Windsor, (or as it was formerly called, the Green Hills,) is thirty-five miles distant from Sydney, and is situated near the confluence of the South Creek with the river Hawksbury. It stands on a hill, whose eleva- tion is about one hundred feet above the level of the river, at low water. The buildings here are of much the same cast as at Parramatta, being in general weather boarded without, and lathed and plastered within.

The public buildings are a church, govern- ment-house, hospital, barracks, court-house, store-house, and gaol, none of which are worthy of notice. The inn lately established by Mr. Fitzgerald is by far the best building in the town, and may be pronounced, upon the

that the aborigines of this country were insusceptible of any mental improvement which could qualify them for the pur- poses of civilized association ; that a black girl of fourteen years of age, between three and four years in the school, bore away the second prize with much satisfaction to their worthy adjudgers and auditors : other prizes were allotted to children of much desert, and it was declared generally, that the attention paid to their instruction by their various pre^ ceptors was entitled to much praise," t&c. &c.

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 33

whole, the most splendid establishment of the kind in the colony.

The bulk of the population is composed of settlers, who have farms in the neighbourhood, and of their servants. There are besides a few inferior traders, publicans and artificers. The town contains in the whole about six hundred souls.

The Hawkesbury here is of considerable size, and navigable for vessels of one hundred tons burden, for about four miles above the town. A little higher up, it is joined by, or rather is called the Nepean river, and has several shal- lows ; but with the help of two or three port- ages of a hundred yards each, it might still be rendered navigable for boats of twelve or fifteen tons burden, for about twenty miles further. This substitution of water for land carriage, would be of great advantage to the numerous settlers who inhabit its highly fertile banks, and would also considerably promote the ex- tension of agriculture throughout the adjacent districts.

Following the windings of the river the distance of Windsor from the sea is about one hundred and forty miles; whereas in a straight line it is not more than thirty-five. The rise

D

34 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

of the tide is about four feet, and the water is fresh for forty miles below the town.

Land is about ten per cent, higher than at Parramatta, and is advancing rapidly in price. This circumstance is chiefly attributable to the small quantity of land that is to be had per- fectly free from the reach of the inundations, to which the Hawkesbury is so frequently subject. These inundations often rise seventy or eighty feet above low water mark ; and in the instance of what is still emphatically termed " the great flood," attained an elevation of ninety-three feet. The chaos of confusion and distress, that presents itself on these occasions, cannot be easily conceived by any one who has not been a witness of its horrors. An immense expanse of water, of which the eye cannot in many directions discover the limits, every where interspersed with growing timber, and crowded with poultry, pigs, horses, cattle, stacks and houses, having frequently men, women, and children clinging to them for protection, and shrieking out in an agony of despair for assis- tance : — such are the principal objects by which these scenes of death and devastation are charac- terized

These inundations are not periodical, but they most generally happen in the month of

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 35

March. Within the last two years there have been no fewer than four of them, one of which was nearly as high as the great flood. In the six years preceding there had not been one. Since the establishment of the colony they have happened, upon an average, about once in four years.

The principal cause of them is the contiguity of this river to the Blue Mountains. The Grose and Warragambia rivers, from which two sources it derives its principal supply, issue directly from these mountains ; and the Nepean river, the other principal branch of it, runs along the base of them for fifty or sixty miles, and receives in its progress, from the innumerable mountain torrents connected with it, the whole of the rain which these mountains collect in that great extent. That this is the principal cause of these calamitous inundations has been fully proved ; for, shortly after the plantation of this colony, the Hawkesbury overflowed its banks, (which are in general about thirty feet in height ), in the midst of harvest, when not single drop of rain had fallen on the Port Jackson side of the mountains. Another great cause of the inundations, which take place in this and the other rivers of the colony, is the small fall that is in them, and the consequent slowness of their currents. The current in the

D 2

36 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

Hawkesbury, even when the tide is in full ebb, does not exceed two miles an hour. The water, therefore, which, during the rains, rushes in torrents from the mountains, cannot escape with sufficient rapidity ; and, from its immense accu- mulation, soon overtops the banks of the river and covers the whole of the low country.

LIVERPOOL.

The town of Liverpool is situated on the banks of George's river, at the distance of eigh- teen miles from Sydney. It was founded by Governor Macquarie, and is now of about six years standing. Its population may amount to about two hundred souls, and is composed of a small detachment of military, of cultivators, and a few artificers, traders, publicans, and labourers.

The public buildings are a church (not yet I believe completed,) a school house, and stores for the reception and issue of provisions to such of the settlers in the adjacent districts as are victualled at the expense of the government. These buildings, however, as might naturally be expected from the very recent establishment of the town, are but little superior in their appearance to the rude dwellings of its inha- bitants.

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 37

The river is about half the size of the Hawkesbury, and is navigable for boats of twenty tons burden as high up as the town. It empties itself into Botany Bay, which is about fourteen miles to the southward of the heads of Port Jackson. It is subject to the same sort of inundations as the Hawkesbury ; but they are not in general of so violent and destructive a nature. The tide rises about the same height as in that river, and the current is, I believe, nearly of the same velocity.

The position of this town is all that can be urged in support of the probability of its fu- ture progress ; the land in its vicinity being in general of a very indifferent quality. It is in a central situation, between Sydney and the fertile districts of Bringelly, Airds, Appin, Bunbury Curran, Cabramatta, and the Seven Islands, to which last place the tide of coloni- zation is at present principally directing itself. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the town of Liverpool will, in a few years, become a place of considerable size and importance. Land there is as yet of very trifling value;* and a lease may be obtained by any free person from the government, on the simple condition of erecting a house on it.

* The town allotments have advanced considerably in price within the last year.

38 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

STATE OF SOCIETY, &c.

Society is upon a much better footing throughout the colony in general, than might naturally be imagined, considering the ingre- dients of which it is composed. In Sydney the civil and military officers with their families form a circle at once select and extended, without including the numerous highly respect- able families of merchants and settlers who reside there. Unfortunately, however, this town is not free from those divisions which are so prevalent in all small communities. Scandal appears to be the favourite amusement to which idlers resort to kill time and prevent ennui ; and consequently, the same families are eternally changing from friendship to hos- tility, and from hostility back again to friend- ship.

In the other towns these dissensions are not so common, because the circle of society is more circumscribed ; and, in the districts where there are no towns at all, they are still more rare ; because in such situations people have too much need of one another's intercourse and assistance to propagate reports injurious to their neighbours' characters, unless on grave occasions, and where their assertions are founded in truth.

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 39

Generally speaking, the state of society in these settlements is much the same, as among an equal population in the country parts of this kingdom. Of the number of respectable per- sons that they contain some estimate may be formed, if we refer to the parties which are given on particular days at the Government House. It appears from the Sydney Gazette of the 24th January, 1818, that one hundred and sixty ladies and gentlemen were present at a ball and supper which was given there on the 18th of that month, in celebration of her late majesty's birth-day.

There are at present no public amusements in this colony. Many years since, there was a theatre, and more latterly, annual races ;* but it was found that the society was not

* The races have been again revived, as will appear from the following extract from a Sydney Gazette of the 9th of June, 1819.

" The races, by permission of His Excellency the Governor, proceeded on Monday, and much excellent sport took place. The running was extremely handsome; and the following are the prizes contested for, and the order in which the horses came in.

•l First prize : An elegant silver cup given by the subscribers, to be run for by horses of all ages that have never won a prize over the Sydney course, carrying weight for age ; viz. 3 year* old, 7 st. ; 4 years old, 7 st. 10 Ibs. ; 5 years old, 8 st. 6 Ib*. ; 6 years old, 9 st. ; and aged, 9 st. 7 Ibs.

40 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

sufficiently mature for such establishme nts Dinner and supper parties are very frequent in

Mr. Emmet's bl. h. Rob Roy, 4 yrs 1 1

Mr. R. Campbell's bl. g. Commissary, 5 yrs. ..22 Mr. Hutchinson's ch. h. Why Not ? 6 yrs. . . dist. Mr. Klensendorlffe's bl. h. Captain, 5 yrs. . . . dist. Mr. Hankinson's bl. m. Miss Bolter, 4 yrs. . . . dist. Mr. Reeve's ch. m. Maid of all Works, aged . . dist. Mr. Hazard's b. h. Sir Solomon, aged ." . . . bolted.

" Second prize : A handsome silver bowl and fashionable saddle, for horses, mares or colts not exceeding 3 years old, that never won a prize on any former occasion.

Mr. Cribb's bl. colt, Sly-boots . • 1 1

Mr. Walker's bl. colt, Haphazard '22

Mr. Reeves's gr. Filley . . , drawn.

Mr. Hillas' mouse-coloured m., Gipsey .... dist. Mr. Driver's bl. filley, Gipsey dist.

" Third prize : A fashionable saddle and bridle, to be run for by all horses carrying the same weight for age as named in the first prize; which was easily won by Mr. R. Campbell's horse Speedy ; and which race terminated the sports of the day.

" Among (he bye-matchers, we observed one tolerably well contested between Mr. Hazard's Sir Solomon, and Mr. Klen- sendorlffe's Captain. This was a three mile heat ; Mr. Hazard's horse rode by Orrel, and Mr. Klensendorlffe's by Fisher. The course was from repeated rains rendered parti- cularly difficult ; and the strength of the horses much to be tried. Upon the first round (this being a one mile course,) Fisher came to the stand equal with his antagonist. Upon the second round his antagonist led him a length ; and upon the third round Fiiher was distanced within a few yards. There was much betting on this match."

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 41

Sydney ; and it generally happens that a few subscription balls take place in the course of the year. Upon the whole it may be safely asserted, that the natural disposition of the people to sociality has not only been in no wise impaired by their change of scene, but that all classes of the colonists are more hospitable than persons of similar means in this country.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

There are five courts in this colony, estab- lished by charter, viz. the Court of Vice Admi- ralty, the Court of Criminal Judicature, the Governor's Court, the Supreme Court, and the High Court of Appeals.

tu -i^Uum ^il,> ->r ; o- ?h/faj>:9 /toil/

The Court of Vice Admiraltv consists of the

•/

Judge Advocate, and takes cognizance of cap- tures, salvages, and such other matters of dis- pute respecting property as arise on the high seas; but it has no criminal jurisdiction.

«

The Court of Criminal Judicature consists of the Judge Advocate and six officers of His Majesty's sea and land forces, or of either, ap- pointed by the Governor. This court takes cognizance of all treasons, felonies, misdemea- nors, and in fact of all criminal offences what- soever ; and afterwards adjudges death or such

42 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

other punishment as the law of England may have affixed to the respective crimes of which the prisoners may be found guilty.

The Governor's Court consists of the Judge Advocate and two inhabitants of the colony, appointed by precept from the Governor, and takes cognizance of all pleas where the amount sued for does not exceed £50 sterling, (except such pleas as may arise between party and party at Van Diemen's Land) and from its decisions there is no appeal.

The Supreme Court is composed of the judge of this court and two magistrates, appointed by precept from the Governor ; and its jurisdic- tion extends to all pleas where the matter in dispute exceeds £50 sterling. From its judg- ments, however, appeals lie to the High Cpurt of Appeals.

This latter court is presided by the Governor himself, assisted by the Judge Advocate ; and its decisions are final in all cases where the sum sued for does not exceed three thousand pounds; but where it exceeds this amount, an appeal lies in the last instance to the King in Council.

These courts regulate their decisions by the

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 43

law of England, and take no notice whatever of the laws and regulations which have been made at various times by the local government. The enforcement of these is left entirely to the magistracy, who assemble weekly in the diffe- rent towns throughout the colony, and take cognizance of all infractions, as well of the colonial as of the criminal code. The courts thus formed by the magistrates, go by the name of " Benches of Magistrates," and answer pretty nearly to the " courts of general quarter sessions of the peace,'' held in the respective counties of this kingdom ; and, generally speaking, they exercise a jurisdiction perfectly similar.

ROADS, &c.

The roads and bridges, which have been made to every part of the colony, are truly surprising, considering the short period that has elapsed since its foundation. All these are either the work of, or have been improved by, the present Governor; who has even caused a road to be con- structed over the western mountains, as far as the depot at BathurstPlains, which is up wards of one hundred and eighty miles from Sydney. The colonists, therefore, are now provided with every facility for the conveyance of their produce to market ; a circumstance which cannot fail to

44 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

have the most beneficial influence on the pro- gress of agriculture. In return for these great public accommodations, and to help to keep them in repair, the Governor has established toll gates* on all the principal roads. These are farmed out to the highest bidder, and were let during the year 1817, for the sum of £257.

STATE OF DEFENCE.

The military force stationed in the colony consists of seven companies of the forty-eighth regiment, and the Royal Veteran Company ; xwhich form an effective body of about seven hundred firelocks. These have to garrison the two principal settlements at Van Diemen's Land, to provide a company for the establish- ment at the Coal River, and to furnish parties for the various towns and outposts of the ex- tended territory of Port Jackson : so that very few troops remain at head quarters. The colony is consequently considered to be greatly in need of a further-}" accession of military strength. Much anxiety is felt on this subject by the generality of the inhabitants, who have

* For the list of Tolls, see the Appendix.

t The Government it is understood have already given instructions to increase the military force of the colony, and it is believed that a vessel of war also is to be stationed there.

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 45

not yet forgotten the insurrection which took place, when the whole population was not nearly, so great as the present amount of the convicts, although the military force was of equal magnitude. That insurrection indeed was easily quelled ; but the result of another, under existing circumstances, would, in all pro- bability, be very different.

An equal degree of anxiety is felt, and more particularly by the mercantile part of the com- munity, that a sloop of war, or a king's vessel of some description, should be stationed in the harbour, both as a protection against the easy possibility of outward assault, and to frustrate the numerous combinations which the convicts are constantly forming, and often too success- fully, to carry away the colonial craft, to the certain destruction of their own and the crews' lives, and to the ruin of the unfortunate owners. Not fewer than three piratical seizures of this nature have been effected within the last three years. On all of these occasions the vessels so seized were run ashore on the uninhabited parts of the coast, and all hands on board, the innocent crews, as well as the abandoned pirates, either perished from hunger, or were immolated by the spears and waddies of the ferocious savages.

46 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

When Governor Macquarie assumed the command in 1810, the population was only half its present number ; and yet a sloop of war was stationed at Port Jackson, and the military force also was on a much more extended scale. Why a diminution has thus been made in the means of protection and defence, when there appear to* be such strong* grounds for their augmentation, merely with reference to the internal state of the colony, it is no easy matter to conjecture.

The expediency also of putting the colony in a better posture to repel outward attack is not less obvious ; for, although we are now at peace with the whole world, it would be absurd to overlook the possibility of future wars. The only battery of any strength is called " Dawe's Battery ;" and is, as I have already casually noticed, situated on the extremity of that neck of land, on which the western part of the town of Sydney is built. This battery, if I remember right, mounts fourteen long eighteen-pounders, but the carriages of the guns are in a bad state of repair, and the embrasures are so low, that a single broadside of grape would sweep off all who had the courage or temerity to defend it.

Fort Phillip stands on the highest part of the

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 47

same neck of land, and nearly in the centre of that part of the town which goes by the name of " the Rocks." This fort was erected by Governor King immediately after the insur- rection , to which I have alluded. It is a regular hexagon, but it never was quite finished, and there are no guns yet mounted on it. The glacis, in fact, is not sufficiently levelled to allow a proper range for artillery, and the circumjacent ground is so irregular and rocky, that an enemy might at once erect batteries at fifty yards' distance. Besides, this fort is so completely hemmed in with houses, that a great part of the town would be inevitably destroyed by the fire from it. Its situation, therefore, is in every point of view objectionable, and suc- ceeding governors have evinced their good sense, in not perfecting a work which would be attended with a very considerable expense, and could never become of any utility.

A new battery has lately been commenced on Bennilong's Point ; but this and Dawe's Bat- tery are both too near the town to protect it from the most insignificant naval force. It is indeed a matter of surprise, that, during the last American war, not one of the numberless privateers of that nation attempted to lay the town of Sydney under contribution, or to plunder it. A vessel of ten guns might have

48 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

effected this enterprise with the greatest ease and safety ; and that the inhabitants were not subjected to such an insulting humiliation could only have arisen from the enemy's ignorance of the insufficiency of their means of defence.

CLIMATE.

The climate of the colony, particularly in the inland districts, is highly salubrious, although the heats in summer are sometimes excessive, the thermometer frequently rising in the shade to ninety, and even to a hundred degrees and upwards of Fahrenheit. This, however, happens only during the hot winds ; and these do not prevail upon an average, more than three or four days in the year. The mean heat during the three summer months, December, January, and February, is about 80° at noon. This, it must be admitted, is a degree of heat that would be highly oppressive to Englishmen, were it not that the sea breeze sets in regularly about nine o'clock in the morning, and blows with con- siderable force from the N. E. till about six or seven o'clock in the evening. It is succeeded during the night by the land breeze from the mountains, which varies from W. S. W. to W. In very hot days the sea breeze often veers round to the north and blows a gale. In this case it continues with great violence, frequently

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 49

for a day or two, and is then succeeded not by the regular land breeze, but by a cold southerly squall. The hot winds blow from the N. W, and doubtless imbibe their heat from the im- mense tract of country which they traverse. While they prevail the sea and land breezes entirely cease. They seldom, however, con- tinue for more than twelve hours at a time, and are always superseded by a cold southerly gale generally accompanied with rain. The thermometer then sinks sometimes as low as 60°, and a variation of temperature of from 20° to 30° takes place in half an hour. These southerly gales usually last at this season from twelve to twenty-four hours, and then give way to the regular sea and land breezes.

During these three months violent storms of thunder and lightning are very frequent, and the heavy falls of rain, which take place on these occasions, tend considerably to refresh the country, of which the verdure in all but low moist situations entirely disappears. At this season the most unpleasant part of the day is the interval which elapses, between the cessation of the land breeze, and the setting in of the sea. This happens generally between six and eight o'clock in the morning, when the thermometer is upon an average at about 72°. During this interval the sea is a» smooth as glass, and not

60 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

a zephyr is found to disport even among the topmost boughs of the loftiest trees.

The three autumn months are March, April, and May. The weather in March is generally very unsettled. This month, in fact, may be considered the rainy season, and has been more fertile in floods than any other of the year. The thermometer varies during the day about 15% being at day-light as low as from 55° to 60°, and at noon as high as from 70° to 75°. The sea and land breezes at this time become very feeble, although they occasionally prevail dur- ing the whole year. The usual winds from the end of March to the beginning of September, are from S. to W.

The weather in the commencement of April is frequently showery, but towards the middle it gradually becomes more settled, and towards the conclusion perfectly clear and serene. The thermometer at the beginning of the month varies from 72° to 74° at noon, and from the middle to the end gradually declines to 66° and sometimes to 60°. In the morning it is as low as 62°, and fires become in consequence general throughout the colony.

The weather in the month of May is truly delightful. The atmosphere is perfectly cloud-

SETTLEMENTS IN NCW HOLLAND. 51

less, and the mornings and evenings become with the advance of the month more chilly, and render a good fire a highly comfortable and cheering guest. Even during the middle of the day the most violent exercise may be taken without inconvenience. The thermo- meter at sun-rise is under e50°, and seldom above 60° at noon.

The three winter months are June, July, and August. During this interval the mornings and evenings are very chilly, and the nights exces- sively cold. Hoar frosts are frequent, and become more severe the further you advance into the interior. Ice half an inch thick is found at the distance of twenty miles from the coast. Very little rain falls at this season, but the dews are very heavy when it does not freeze, and tend considerably to preserve the young crops from the effects of drought. Fogs too are frequent and dense in low damp situa- tions, and on the banks of the rivers. The mean temperature at day-light is from 40° to 45°, and at noon from 55° to 60°.

The spring months are September, October, and November. In the beginning of Septem- ber the fogs still continue, the nights are cold, but the days clear and pleasant. Towards the close of this month the cold begins very sensibly

E 2

52 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

to moderate. Light showers occasionally pre- vail, accompanied with thunder and lightning. The thermometer at the beginning of the month is seldom above 60° at noon, but towards the end frequently rises to 70°.

In October there are also occasional showers, but the weather upon the whole is clear and pleasant. The days gradually become warmer, and the blighting north-west winds are to be apprehended. The sea and land breezes again resume their full sway. The thermometer at sun-rise varies from 60° to 65°, and at noon is frequently up to 80°.

In November the weather may be again called hot. Dry parching winds prevail as the month advances, and squalls of thunder and lightning with rain or hail. The thermometer at day light is seldom under 65°, and frequently at noon rises to 80°, 84°, and even 90°.

Such is the temperature throughout the year at Port Jackson. In the inland districts to the eastward of the mountains, the thermometer is upon an average 5° lower in the morning, and the same number of degrees higher at noon throughout the winter season, but during the summer months it is 5° higher at all hours of the day. On the mountains themselves, and in the

SETTLEMENTS IN XEW HOLLAND. 53

country to the westward of them, the climate, in consequence of their superior elevation, is much more temperate. Heavy falls of snow take place during the winter, and remain sometimes for many days on the summits of the loftiest hills ; but in the valleys the snow imme- diately dissolves. The frosts too are much more severe, and the winters are of longer duration. All the seasons indeed are more distinctly marked to the westward of the mountains, and bear a much stronger resemblance to the corre- sponding ones in this country.

From the foregoing account of the state of the weather and temperature during the various seasons of the year, it will be seen that the climate of the colony is upon the whole highly salubrious and delightful. Tfthe summers are occasionally a little too hot for the British constitution, it will be remembered that the extreme heats, which I have noticed as happen- ing during the north west winds, are of but short continuance ; and that the sea and land breezes, which prevail at this season in an almost unin- terrupted succession, moderate the temperature so effectually, that even new-comer* are but little incommoded by it, and the old residents experience no inconvenience from it whatever. The sea breeze indeed is not so sensibly felt in the interior as on the coast, by reason of the

64 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

great extent of forest which it has to traverse, before the inhabitants of the inland districts can receive the benefit of it. This circumstance not only diminishes its forcea but also deprives it in a great measure of that refreshing coolness which it imparts, when inhaled fresh from the bosom of the ocean. The heat consequently in the interior, particularly in low situations, is much more intense than on the coast ; but by way of compensation for the advantage which in this respect the districts in the vicinity of the sea possess over the inland ones, these latter are from the same causes, that impede the approach of the sea breeze, exempt from the sudden and violent variations of temperature, which are occasioned by the southerly winds, and are without doubt the reason why pulmo'- nic affections are so much more prevalent in Sydney than in the interior. The hot season, however, which is undoubtedly the most un- healthy part of the year, does not, as will have been perceived, continue above four months. The remaining eight possess a temperature so highly moderate and congenial to the human constitution, that the climate of this colony would, upon the whole, appear to justify the glowing enthusiasm of those who have ven- tured to call it the Montpellier of the world.

SETTLEMENTS IN NBW HOLLAND. 56

DISEASES.

Abdominal and pulinonic complaints are the two prevalent diseases. The abdominal com- plaints are confined principally to dysentery. This disorder is most common among the poorer classes arid new-comers, In these it is gene- rally intimately connected with scurvy, and in both cases it is for the most part greatly aggra- vated by the excessive use of spirituous liquors, to which the mass of the colonists are unfortu- nately addicted. The pulmonic affections are generally contracted at an early period by the youth of both ;Jexes, and are occasioned by the great and sudden variations of temperature already noticed. They are not, however, accompanied with that violent inflammatory action which distinguishes them in this country, but proceed slowly and gradually, till from neglect they terminate in phthisis. They are said to bear a strong affinity to the complaint of the same nature which prevails at the Island of Madeira ; and it is remarkable, that in both these colonies a change of air affords the only chance of restoration to the natives ; whereas foreigners labouring under phthisis, upon their arrival in either of these places, find almost instantaneous relief.

There are no infantile diseases whatever. The

56 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

measles, hooping cough, and small pox, are en- tirely unknown. Some few years, indeed, before the foundation of the colony, the small pox com- mitted the most dreadful ravages among the aborigines. This exterminating scourge is said to have been introduced by Captain Cook, and many of the contemporaries of those, who fell victims to it, are still living ; and the deep fur- rows, which remain in some of their counte- nances, shew how narrowly they escaped the same premature destiny. The recollection of this dreadful malady will long survive in the traditionary songs of this simple people. The consternation which it excited is still as fresh in their minds, as if it had been an occurrence of but yesterday, although the generation, which witnessed its horrors, has almost past away. The moment one of them was seized with it was the signal for abandoning him to his fate. Brothers deserted their brothers, children their parents, and parents their children ; and, in some of the caves on the coast, heaps of decay- ed bones still indicate the spots, where the helpless sufferers were left to expire, not so much perhaps from the violence of the disease, as from the want of sustenance.

This fatal instance of the inveteracy of this disorder, when once introduced into the colony, has not been without its counterpoising benefit.

SETTLEMENTS IN NKW HOLLAND. 57

It has induced the local government to adopt proper measures for avoiding the propagation of a similar contagion among the colonists. The vaccine matter was introduced with this view many years back ; but, as all the children in the colony were immediately inoculated, it was again lost from the want of a sufficient num- ber of subjects to afford a supply of fresh virus, and, for many years afterwards, every effort that was made for its re-introduction proved abortive. Through the indefatigable exer- tions, however, of Doctor Burke of the Mauri- tius, the colonists are again in possession of this inestimable blessing, and there can be no doubt that proper precautions will be taken, to pre- vent them from being again deprived of it.

COLONIAL SPORTS.

Coursing the kangaroo and emu forms the principal amusement of the sporting part of the colonists. The former, it is well known, is an animal peculiar to this colony and of ex- tremely singular formation, having very short fore-legs, which it only uses when it feeds or rests ; and very long hind-legs, by means of which and a large muscular tail, it hops as fast as a hare can run, and often, particularly in dry weather, outstrips the fleetest greyhound :

68 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

the latter is a bird nearly of the size and form of an ostrich, having short wings or rather flappers, and long legs, which enable it to run with great swiftness ; but it seldom escapes from the dogs unless when in the neighbour- hood of a brush, in which it invariably endea- vours to take shelter. The general weight of the forest kangaroo, is from forty to a hun- dred pounds ; but they have occasionally been known to weigh as much as a hundred and fifty pounds. The brush kangaroo is much smaller, seldom exceeding thirty pounds, and more frequently not weighing more than fifteen or twenty pounds ; but this latter species always keep in brushes, and from the consequent dif- ficulty there is in catching them, seldom attract the notice of the sportsman. The emu weighs from sixty to a hundred and twenty pounds. All three are delicious eating, and the tail of the forest kangaroo in particular makes a soup which, both in richness and flavour, is far superior to any ox-tail soup ever tasted. The forest kangaroo and emu are both so timid, that they soon abandon the districts which are located, and retire back into the unsettled wilds, which have never yet echoed to the blows of the woodman's axe, or the voice of the herdsman and shepherd, and where no sounds save those of the ancient aboriginal

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 69

joint tenants of the soil, are heard to startle them from their slumbers, or scare them from their repasts. To enjoy, therefore, these sports in perfection, it is necessary to go far beyond the limits of colonization ; but this is a neces- sity to which those who are really sportsmen cheerfully submit. On these occasions they generally form parties of three or four, and take with them a native or two belonging to the tribe in whose district they intend to hunt. These serve both as guides and as a protection against any hostile attempt which their tribe might be tempted to make ; but they are chiefly useful in the former capacity, since the natives of the country, besides being naturally a very inoffensive race, have scarcely ever been known even in the most remote parts of the colony, to attack the smallest body of Europeans when armed ; and on these excursions it is always customary to be so. A little tobacco, of which they are remarkably fond, and an old rug or blanket, or cast off suit of clothes, is all these poor creatures expect in return. The provision generally made for one of these hunting excur- sions is a sufficient stock of biscuit or flour, tea, sugar and spirits, a frying-pan, tea-kettle and stew-pan, a small quantity of fat pork to fry the kangaroo with, a horn or tin-cup, and good warm blanket for each of the party, and tethers for the horses. These articles are

60 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF TIJK

usually carried in two sacks balanced and slung across the back of one of the horses. As for meatr they rely entirely on their dogs, of which they commonly take along with them two or three couple ; and indeed they always kill much more game of one sort and the other, than they and their dogs can consume. Besides the articles above enumerated, the more provident sports- men take also a large piece of canvas with them on these occasions. With this they form a tent to shelter themselves from the dews, which in the winter months are very heavy. The mode of constructing these temporary tents is very simple. After fixing upon a spot which they consider eligible for passing the night in, from its proximity to water, and from its possessing abundance of decayed timber, the two grand requisites for an encampment, they fasten a rope between any two trees which happen to be at a convenient distance asunder. On this they spread the canvass and fasten it down on one side close to the ground with wooden pegs in the same manner as is usual in pitching a regular tent. On the other side, however, they do not place the canvas nearer than within three or four feet of the ground, but they keep it stretched tight with strings, which are previously sewed to it for the purpose, and which are in like manner fastened to pegs, in order that by being fully extended, it may be able to prevent the dew or

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 61

rain from soaking through. Before this open or front side, they light a large fire, always selecting, if possible, some old fallen tree for a back log. They also provide themselves with a sufficiency of fuel before night-fall, that they may keep up a brisk fire during the night ; and such of them, as happen to awake, take care always to replenish and keep it toge- ther. The party sleep with their feet to the fire, and their heads to the back of the tent : and in this manner seldom fail, after the fatigues of the day, to enjoy a sounder repose than they obtain in their beds when at home.

Many of the more hardy sportsmen, how- ever, disdain to incumber themselves with the materials, light as they are, which are necessary for the construction of this rude shelter, and content themselves simply with their blankets, and the assisting heat of a good fire in the open air. But they always take care to sleep to leeward of the fire, in order that the smoke may pass over them. In taking this precaution, they have a double object in view—to defend themselves from the dew and from the swarms of musquitos, which during the summer are found in low damp situations, and on the banks of rivers and lagoons. In the pursuit of this sport, and at the distance of fifty or sixty miles from the

62 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

nearest settlement, many of these parties fre- quently remain in the woods for a fortnight or three weeks at a time ; and so captivating is this mode of life, that it is always with regret and only from a total exhaustion of the supplies carried along with them, that they are induced to return to their habitations.

A few years since there was a subscription p.ack of hounds in the colony, and it was found on several occasions that the kangaroo was capable of affording an excellent day's sport. The native dog also, which is a species of the wolf, was proved to be fully equal in this respect to the fox ; but, as the pack was not sufficiently numerous to kill these animals at once, they always suffered so severely from their bite that at last the members of the hunt were shy in allowing the dogs to follow them. When the 73d regiment quitted the colony, the pack was broken up, as they were the principal supporters of it, and their successors had no taste for field-sports. Since that period no attempt has been made to form another pack, although the breed of hounds is not yet extinct in the colony.

The colony does not offer to the sportsman the same amusement in the shooting way as is to be met with in the hunting. I have

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 63

already stated that there are neither partridges, pheasants, nor woodcocks, although there is an infinite variety of other birds which are not to he found elsewhere. To the sportsman, however, the killing of these does not afford any great degree of pleasure, since they are for the most part only to be shot in trees or bushes. The quail., snipe, and ground parrot, are the only birds which live on the ground, and can be put up with dogs. The two latter, however, are scarce, and to be found only in moist situations ; but the former is in abun- dance every where, and forms a very excellent substitute for the partridge. The bandicoot also, and kangaroo-rat, are tolerably plen- tiful, and afford the sportsman nearly the same amusement as hares and rabbits. Par- rots, parroquets, pigeons, plovers, curlews, wild-ducks, teal, widgeons, and a variety of other birds peculiar to the colony may be shot ad libitum.

The seas and rivers afford the fisherman and angler an inexhaustible fund of amusement. Fishing parties are very frequent among the inhabitants of Sydney and of the districts con- tiguous to the coast ; and it is no uncommo sight to behold them return with their boats literally filled with a variety of excellent fish not known in this country. In the interior of

64 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

the colony those too who dwell on the banks of rivers, or creeks, may, if they possess any taste for angling, indulge their propensity to the utmost extent. Among the various sorts of fish with which the rivers, &c. abound, the perch, so called from its resembling the fish of the same name in this country, more than any other species, is the most plentiful, and affords the best sport to the angler. These fish generally weigh from one to three pounds, but they have been occasionally caught weighing seven or eight pounds. Of a fine summer's even- ing the rivers appear to be actually alive with them, and the splash they make, as they rise to the surface of the water to take the flies float- ing on it, inspires the angler with the most delightful emotions. The mouths of these fish are so very tender that it is necessary to keep them tight in hand from the moment they are hooked until they are safely landed, and it is therefore customary to fish with much stronger tackle than would be used to take fish of the same weight in this country. Reels are quite useless, both on this account, and from the immense quantity of fallen timber with which the rivers are incumbered.

The finest silver eels may be taken in the greatest abundance, both with short night lines, and with baskets. In the streams to the

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 65

westward of the mountains, there is a species of fish not found to the eastward of them, which is much larger than the perch. These fish are of the most ravenous nature, and readily take frogs, small birds, the offal of animals, and indeed almost any thing with which a hook can be baited. They are, I believe, a species of the pike, and weigh from five to thirty pounds ; and as the rivers, in consequence of the clearness of the country, are in general free from all obstruction to the use of the reel, the angler in killing them, would find as much sport as in playing a salmon or pike of the same weight.

SOIL.

The colony of New South Wales possesses every variety of soil, from the sandy heath and the cold hungry clay, to the fertile loam and the deep vegetable mould. For the distance of five or six miles from the coast, the land is in general extremely barren, being a poor hungry sand, thickly studded with rocks. A few mise- rable stunted gums, and a dwarf underwood, are the richest productions of the best parts of it ; whilst the rest never gives birth to a tree at all, and is only covered with low flowering shrubs, whose infinite diversity, however, and

66 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

extraordinary beauty, render this wild heath the most interesting part of the country for the botanist, and make even the less scientific beholder forget the nakedness and sterility of the scene.

Beyond this barren waste, which thus forms a girdle to the coast, the country suddenly begins to improve. The soil changes to a thin layer of vegetable mould, resting on a stratum of yellow clay, which is again supported by a deep bed of schistus. The trees of the forest are here of the most stately dimensions. Full sized gums and iron barks, along side of which the loftiest trees in this country would appear as pigmies, with the beefwood tree, or, as it is generally termed, the forest oak , which is of much humbler growth, are the usual timber. The forest is extremely thick, but there is little or no underwood. A poor sour grass, which is too effectually shaded from the rays of the sun to be possessed of any nutritive and fatten- ing properties, shoots up in the intervals. This description of country, with a few excep- tions, however, which deserve not to be par- ticularly noticed, forms another girdle of about ten miles in breadth : so that, generally speak- ing, the colony for about sixteen miles into the interior, may be said to possess a soil, which

SETTLEMENTS IN NBW HOLLAND. 67

has naturally no claim to fertility, and will re- quire all the skill and industry of its owners to render it even tolerably productive.

At this distance, however, the aspect of the country begins rapidly to improve. The forest is less thick, and the trees in general are o/ another description ; the iron barks, yellow gums, and forest oaks disappearing, and the stringy barks, blue gums, and box trees, gene*> rally usurping their stead. When you have advanced about four miles further into the interior, you are at length gratified with the appearance of a country truly beautiful. An endless variety of hill and dale, clothed in the most luxuriant herbage, and covered with bleating flocks and lowing herds, at length indi- cate that you are in regions fit to be inhabited by civilized man. The soil has no longer the stamp of barrenness. A rich loam resting on a substratum of fat red clay, several feet in depth, is found even on the tops of the highest hills, which in general do not yield in fertility to the vallies. The timber, strange as it may appear, is of inferior size, though still of the same nature, i. e. blue gum, box, and stringy bark. There is no underwood, and the number of trees upon an acre do not upon an average ex-> ceed thirty. They are, in fact, so thin, that a person may gallop without difficulty in every

F 2

68 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

direction. Coursing- the kangaroo it has been seen is the favourite amusement of the colonists, who generally pursue this animal at full speed on horseback, and frequently manage, notwith- standing its extraordinary swiftness, to be up at the death ; so trifling are the impediments occasioned by the forest.

The above general description may be applied, with tolerable accuracy, to the whole tract of country which lies between this space and the Nepean River. The plains, however, on the banks of this river, which are in many places of considerable extent, are of far greater fertility, being a rich vegetable mould, many feet in depth, and have, without 'doubt, been gradually formed by depositions from it during the pe- riods of its inundations. These plains gradually enlarge themselves until you arrive at the junc- tion of the Nepean with the Havvkesbury, on each side of which they are commonly from a mile to a mile and a half in breadth. The banks of this latter river are of still greater fertility than the banks of the former, and may vie in this respect with the far famed banks of the Nile. The same acre of land there has been known to produce in the course of one year, fifty bushels of wheat and a hundred of maize. The settlers have never any occasion for manure, since the slimy depositions from the river effec-

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 69

tually counteract the exhaustion that would otherwise be produced by incessant crops. The timber on the banks of these rivers is for the most part apple tree, which is very beautiful, and bears in its foliage and shape a striking resem- blance to the oak of this country. Its wood, however, is of no value except for firing, and for the immense quantity of pot-ash which might be made from it. The blue gum and stringy bark are also very common on these flooded lands, and of the best description. The banks of the Hawkesbury formerly produced cedar, but it has long since entirely disappeared.

The banks of these rivers, and indeed the whole tract of country, (generally speaking) which I have described, with the exception of the barren waste in the vicinity of the coast, are, to use the colonial term, located, i. e. either granted away to individuals, or attached as com- mons to the cultivated districts. It may not, therefore, be unacceptable to many of my readers, to learn the particulars of those un- appropriated tracts of land within the imme- diate precincts of Port Jackson, which are best adapted to the purposes of colonization.

COW PASTURES.

Of these "the cow pastures" rank first in

70 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OP THE

point of proximity. This tract of land has hitherto been reserved for the use of the wild cattle ; although these animals have for some time past nearly disappeared, either from having found an outlet into the interior, through the surrounding mountains, or, what is a still more probable conjecture, from the exterminating incursions of the numerous poor settlers, who have farms in the neighbourhood, and who, considering their general poverty, it is easy to believe, would not suffer the want of animal food, so long as they could take their dogs and guns, and kill a cow or calf at their option. These wild cattle were the progeny of a few tame ones, which strayed away from the settle- ment shortly after the period of its foundation, and were not discovered till about fifteen years afterwards, when they had multiplied to several thousands. On their discovery they imme- diately attracted the attention of His Majesty's Ministers, and orders were dispatched from this country, prohibiting the governor and his successors from granting away the land, on which they had fixed themselves. This they soon overspread, and on the occasion of the severe droughts that were experienced in the colony in the year 1813, 1814, and 1815, great numbers of them perished from the want of water and pasturage. Where thousands then ex- isted, there are scarcely hundreds to be found at

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 71

present, and these chiefly consist of bulls. A cow or calf can very rarely be met with. There can consequently be very little doubt that they have disappeared in the manner I have conjectured, and that their numbers have been thus consider- ably reduced by the depredations of the poorer settlers, which it was for a long time thought beyond the power of the colonial courts to restrain ; since, although it was notorious that these wild cattle were originally purchased by the crown, still the cattle of individuals had subsequently, at various times, intermixed with them, and prevented that identification of pro- perty, which the late Judge Advocate consi- dered essential to the conviction of the offen- ders. His opinion, however, has been overruled by his successor, and several persons have been lately tried for and found guilty of this offence ; and although they were not punished capitally for it, there can be no doubt that their convic- tion will greatly diminish such depredations for ' the future. Not that 1 consider the preserva- tion of these wild herds will be attended with any advantages to the colony. On the con- trary, it is my belief, that their total destruction ought to be effected ; since the increase of them is of mere negative importance, compared with the positive disadvantage that attends their occupation of one of the most fertile districts in the colony, which it is to be hoped will be soon

72 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

covered with numerous flocks of fine woolled sheep, for the pasture of which the greater part of it is so admirably adapted. This tract of land is about thirty miles distant from Sydney : it is bounded on the east by the river Nepean, on the west by the Blue Mountains, of which this river, on the north side of the cow pastures washes the base, so that they together form the northern boundary, and on the south by a thick barren brush of about ten miles in breadth, which these cattle have never been able to pene- trate. This fine tract of country is thus sur- rounded by natural boundaries, which form it into an enclosure somewhat in the shape of an oblong spheroid. It contains about one hun- dred thousand acres of good land, a consider- able portion of which is flooded, and equal to any on the banks of the Hawkesbury.

FIVE ISLANDS, OR ILLAWARRA.

The next considerable tract of unappropri- ated land is the district called the Five Islands. It commences at the distance of about forty miles to the southward of Sydney, and extends to Shoal Haven river. This tract of land lies between the coast and a high range of hills which terminate at the north side abruptly in the sea, and form its northern and western boundary : the ocean is its eastern boundary,

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 73

and Shoal Haven river its southern. The range that surrounds this district on the north and west is a branch of the Blue Mountains ; and the only road at present known to it, is down a pass so remarkably steep, that, unless a better be dis- covered, the communication between it and the capital by land, will always be difficult and dan- gerous for waggons. This circumstance is a material counterpoise to its extraordinary ferti- lity, and is the reason why it is at present unoc- cupied by any but large stockholders. Those parts, however, which are situated near Shoal Haven river, are highly eligible for agricultural purposes ; since this river is navigable for about twenty miles into the country for vessels of seventy or eighty tons burden ; a circumstance which holds out to future colonists the greatest facilities for the cheap and expeditious convey- ance of their produce to market. The land on the banks of this river is of the same nature, and possesses equal fertility with the banks of the Hawkesbury. There are several streams in different parts of this district, which issue from the mountain behind, and afford an abundant supply of pure water. In many places there are large prairies of unparalleled riches, entirely free from timber, and consequently prepared by the hand of nature for the imme- diate reception of the ploughshare. These advantages, combined with its proximity to

74 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

Sydney, have already begun to attract the tide of colonization to it, and will no doubt render it in a few years one of the most populous, pro- ductive, and valuable of all the districts. The soil is in general a deep fat vegetable mould. The surface of the country is thinly timbered, with the exception of the mountain which bounds it to the Northward and Westward. This is covered with a thick brush, but is never- theless extremely fertile up to the very summit, and peculiarly adapted both from its eastern aspect and mild climate for the cultivation of the vine. This large tract of country was only discovered about four years since, and has not yet been accurately surveyed. Its extent, there- fore, is not precisely known ; but it without doubt contains several hundred thousand acres, including the banks of the Shoal Haven river. These produce a great abundance of fine cedar, and other highly valuable timber, for which there is an extensive and increasing demand at Port Jackson.

COAL RIVER.

The next tract of unappropriated country which I shall describe, is the district of the Coal River. The town of Newcastle is situated at the mouth of this river, and is about sixty miles to the northward of Port Jackson. Its popula-

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 75

tion by the last census forwarded to this country, was five hundred and fifty souls. These, with the exception of a few free settlers, established on the upper banks of this river, amounting with their families perhaps to thirty souls, and about fifty troops, are all incorrigible offenders, who have been convicted either before a Bench of Magistrates, or the Court of Criminal Judi- cature, and afterwards re-transported to this place, where they are worked in chains from sunrise to sunset, and profitably employed in burning lime and procuring coals and timber, as well for carrying on the public works at Port Jackson, as for the private purposes of indivi- duals, who pay the Government stipulated prices for these different articles. This settlement was, in fact, established with the two-fold view of supplying the public works with these neces- sary articles, and providing a separate place of punishment for all who might be convicted of crimes in the colonial courts.

Th e coal mines here are considerably elevated above the level of the sea, and are of the richest description. The veins are visible on the abrupt face of the cliff, which borders the harbour, and are worked by adits or openings, which serve both to carry off the water and to wheel away the coals. The quantity procured in this easy manner is very great, and might be increased to

76 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

any extent. So much more coals indeed are thus obtained than are required for the purposes of the Government, that they are glad to dispose of them to all persons who are willing to pur- chase, requiring in return a duty of two shillings and sixpence per ton, for such as are intended for home consumption, and five shillings for such as are for exportation.

The lime procured at this settlement is made from oyster shells, which are found in prodigious abundance. These shells lie close to the banks of the river, in beds of amazing size and depth. How they came there has long been a matter of surprise and speculation among the colonists. Some are of opinion that they have been gradually deposited by the natives in those periodical feasts of shell fish, for the celebration of which they still assemble at stated seasons in large bodies : others have contended, and I think with more probability, that they were originally large natural beds of oysters, and that the river has on some occasion or other, either changed its course or contracted its limits, and thus deserted them.

These beds are generally five or six feet above high water mark. The process of making lime from them is extremely simple and expeditious. They are first dug up and sifted, and then piled

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 77

over large heaps of dry wood, which are set fire to, and speedily convert the superincumbent mass into excellent lime. When thus made it is shipped for Sydney, and sold at one shilling per bushel.

The timber procured on the banks of this river is chiefly cedar and rose wood. The cedar, however, is becoming scarce in consequence of the immense quantities that have been already cut down, and cannot be any longer obtained without going at least a hundred and fifty miles up the river. At this distance, however, it is still to be had in considerable abundance, and is easily floated down to the town in rafts. The Government dispose of this wood in the same manner as the coals, at the price of .£3 for each thousand square feet, intended for home consumption, and £Q for the same quan- tity if exported.

This settlement is placed under the direction of a commandant, who is selected out of the officers of the regiment stationed in the colony, and is allowed, as has been noticed, about fifty tire-locks to maintain his authority. He is always appointed to the Magistracy previously to his obtaining this command, and is entrusted witk the entire controul of the prisoners, whom

78 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

he punishes or rewards as their conduct may appear to him to merit.

The harbour at the mouth of this river is tolerably secure and spacious, and contains sufficient depth of water for vessels of three hundred tons burden. The river itself, how- ever, is only navigable for small craft of thirty or forty tons burden, and this only for about fifty miles above the town. Just beyond this distance there are numerous flats and shallows, which only admit of the passage of boats over them. This river has three branches : they are called the upper, the lower, and the middle branch : the two former are navigable for boats for about a hundred and twenty miles, the latter for upwards of two hundred miles. The banks of all these branches are liable to inun- dations equally terrific with those at the Hawkes- bury, and from the same causes ; because they are receptacles for the rain that is collected by the Blue Mountains, which form the western boundary of this district, and divide it as well as the districts of Port Jackson, from the great western wilderness. The low lands within the reach of these inundations is if possible of still greater exuberancy than the banks of the Hawkesbury and Nepean, and of four times the extent. The high-land, or to give it the

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 79

colonial appellation, the forest land, is very thinly dotted with timber, and equal for all the purposes of agriculture and grazing to the best districts of Port Jackson. The climate too is equally salubrious, and on the upper banks of the middle branch, it is generally believed, that the summer heats are sufficient for the production of cotton ; the cultivation of which would become an inexhaustible source of wealth to the growers, and would afford a valuable article of export to the colony.

In fact, under every point of view, this dis- trict contains the strongest inducements to colo- nization. It possesses a navigable river, by which its produce may be conveyed to market at a trifling expence, and the inhabitants of its most remote parts may receive such articles of foreign or domestic growth and manufacture as they may need, at a, moderate advance : it surpasses Port Jackson in the general fertility of its soil, and at least rivals it in the salubrity of its climate : it contains in the greatest abun- dance coal, lime, and many varieties of valuable timber which are not found elsewhere, and promise to become articles of considerable export : it has already established in an eligible position, a small nucleus of settlers to which others may adhere, and thus both communicate and receive the advantages of society and pro-

80 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

tection; and it has a town which affords a considerable market for agricultural produce, and of which the commanding localities must rapidly increase the extent and population.

COUNTRY WEST OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.

The country to the westward of the Blue Mountains ranks next in contiguity to Sydney, and claims pre-eminence not so much from any superiority of soil in those parts of it which have been explored, as from its amazing extent, and great diversity of climate. These moun- tains, where the road has been made over them, are fifty-eight miles in breadth ; and as the distance from Sydney to Emu Ford, at which place this road may be said to commence, is about forty miles, the beginning of the vast tract of country to the. westward of them, it will be seen, is ninety-eight miles distant from the capital.

The road which thus traverses these moun- tains is by no means difficult for waggons, until you arrive at the pass which forms the descent into the low country. There it is excessively steep and dangerous ; yet carts and waggons go up and down it continually : nor do I believe that any serious accident has yet occurred

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 81

in performing this very formidable under- taking.

Still the discovery of a safer and more prac- ticable pass would certainly be attended with a very beneficial influence on the future progress of colonization in this great western wilderness. Every attempt, however, to find such a one has hitherto proved abortive ;* and should the

* By the last advices from the colony, which contain infor- mation up to the thirteenth of June, 1819, it appears that this important object has at last been effected, and that a com- munication has been opened to the delightful country beyond the Blue Mountains, of easy access, running through- lands of the very best description. The .colonists are indebted for this acquisition to their resources to the exertions of Charles Throsby, Esq. a large land and stock-holder, many years resident in New South Wales. Mr. Throsby was on the •whole occupied fifteen days on the expedition : his progress being retarded from several of his party falling sick, and from <he badness of the weather ; but by the delay he had a better opportunity of examining the country on each side of his route, and in a letter to one of his friends, he says: " I have no hesitation in stating we have a country fit for any and every purpose: where fine wooled sheep may be increased to any •extent, in a climate peculiarly congenial to them. Ere long you will hear of a route being continued to the southward as far as Twofold Bay, and so on further in succession through a country as much superior to the cow pastures as that now enviable district is to the land contiguous to Sydney ; and where our herds, our flocks, and our cultivation may unlimit- edly increase at an inconsiderable distance from the great and grand essential in a young colony — water carriage J" The

82 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

future efforts which may be made with this view prove equally so, there can be little doubt, that the communication between the eastern and western country will be principally maintained by means of horses and mules with packs and panniers.

The elevation of Mount York, the highest of these mountains above the level of the sea, has been found to be only 3200 feet, and I should

importance of this discovery may be best estimated from the following general order issued on the occasion by His Excellency Governor Macquarie.

General Orders, 31st May, 1819.

His Excellency the Governor, having received and perused the journal of a tour lately made by Charles Throsby, Esq. by the way of the cow pastures to Bathurst, in the new disco- vered country, west of the Blue Mountains, takes this early opportunity publicly to announce the happy result of an enter- prize which promises to conduce in a very eminent degree to the future interests and prosperity of the colony.

The communication with the western country having been heretofore over a long and difficult range of mountains, alike un- congenial to man and cattle, from their parched and barren state, it became an object of great importance to discover another route whereby those almost insurmountable barriers would be avoided, and a more practicable, and consequently less hazard- ous access effected to the rich and extensive plains of Bathurst; and with this purpose C. Throsby, Esq. obtained His Excel- lency's permission to explore those parts of the country which seemed to him likely to possess the desired facilities of inter- course ; and undertook this expedition notwithstanding the privations, difficulties and dangers to which he was exposed in traversing wastes and forests hitherto unexplored. On the

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 83

imagine that their general height cannot exceed two thousand feet. For the first ten or twelve miles they are tolerably well clothed with tim- ber, and produce occasionally some middling pasture ; but beyond this they are excessively barren, and are covered with a thick brush, interspersed here and there with a few miser- able stunted gums. They bear, in fact, a striking

25th of April last, he commenced his arduous tour, pasting through the cow pastures, accompanied by Mr. J. Rowley and two servants, together with two natives as guides, and brought it to a happy termination on the 9th of May, by his arrival at the hut of Lieutenant Lawson, on the Campbell River, within a short distance of Bathurst ; the whole time occupied in this expedition being fifteen days.

The necessity which Mr. Throsby appears to have been under of accelerating his progress through the country he was ex- ploring, did not allow him to dwell minutely in his journal on the various productions and properties of the soil he traversed. His Excellency, therefore, adverts with pleasure to his general report of the capabilities, qualities and features of the country intervening between the cow pastures and Bathurst; which he represents to be, with few exceptions, rich, fertile and luxuriant; abounding with fine runs of water, and all the happy variety of soil, hill and valley, to render it not only delightful to the view, but highly suitable to all the purposes of pasturage and agriculture.

The importance of these discoveries is enhanced by the consideration that a continuous range of valuable country, ex- tending from the cow pastures to the remote plains of Bathurst, is now fully ascertained, connecting those countries with the present settlements on this side the Nepean.

His Excellency the Governor, highly appreciating Mr.

G 2

84 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

similarity, in respect both to their soil and pro- ductions, to the barren wastes on the coast of Port Jackson. They are very rocky, but they want granite, the distinguishing characteris- tic of primitive mountains. Sandstone thickly studded with quartz and a little freestone, are the only varieties which they offer ; a circumstance the more singular, as the moment

Throsby's services on this occasion, offers him this public tribute of acknowledgment for the zeal and perseverance by which he was actuated throughout this arduous undertaking, and desires his acceptance of one thousand acres of land in any part of the country discovered by himself, that he may choose to select.

The Governor also in acknowledgment of Mr. J. Rowley's services on this occasion, will assign him two hundred acres of land in the same country; and to Joseph Wild, and John Wait, servants to Mr. Throsby, who accompanied him on the expedition, and whose fidelity and exertions are particu- larly noticed and commended by Mr. Throsby, His Excellency will assign one hundred acres of land each.

The services rendered by the two native guides Cookoogong and Dual, and to whom much of the success of the under- taking may be ascribed, being very meritorious, His Excel- lency will order a remuneration to be made to them in clothes and bedding: and will further appoint Cookoogong chief of the Burrah-burrah tribe, to which he belongs, and over which he appears to have very considerable influence, together with the usual badge of distinction. And on Dual, His Excellency will confer the badge of merit, as a reward due to these na- tives, for their respective exertions and services. By His Excellency's command.

J. T. CAMPBELL, Secretary.

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 85

you descend into the low country beyond them, granite is the only sort of stone that is to be met with for upwards of two hundred miles.*

For the whole of this distance to the westward of these mountains, the country abounds with the richest herbage, and is upon the whole tole- rably well supplied with running water. In the immediate vicinity of them there is a profusion of rivulets, which discharge themselves into the western river ; or, as it is termed by the natives, the Warragambia, the main branch, as I have before observed, of the Hawkesbury. From the moment, however, that the streams begin to take a western course, the want of water becomes more perceptible, and increases as you proceed into the interior, particularly in a west and south-west direction.

This large and fertile tract of country, is in general perfectly free from underwood ; and in many places, is without any timber at all. Bathurst Plains, for instance, where there is a commandant, a military depot, and some few settlers established, have been found by actual admeasurement, to contain upwards of sixty thousand acres, upon which there is scarcely a

* At this distance there is abundance of slate and limestone ; vide Mr. Oxley's letter, which follows —

$6 STATISTICAL ACCOtNT OF THE

tree. 'The whole of this western country, indeed, is much more open and free from timber than the best districts to the eastward of the Blue Mountains.

The dep6t at Bathurst Plains, is 180 miles distant from Sydney ; and the road to it pre- sents no impediment to waggons, but the de- scent from the mountains into the low country ; and even this does not prevent the inhabitants from maintaining a regular intercourse with that town, and receiving from it all the supplies which they require. The difficulty, however, of thus communicating with the capital, is such as to preclude this vast tract of country from assuming an agricultural character ; except in as far as the raising of grain for a scanty popu- lation of shepherds and herdsmen, may entitle it to this denomination ; since there are no navi- gable rivers, at all events for many hundred miles into the interior, and the difficulty and expense of land-carriage across the Blue Mountains, will always prevent the inhabitants of that part of this vast western wilderness, which is at present explored, from entering into a competition with the colonists in the immediate vicinity of Port Jackson. By way, however, of set-off against the manifest superiority, which the districts to the eastward of the mountains possess in this re- spect over the country to the westward of them.

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 87

this latter is certainly much better adapted for all the purposes of grazing and rearing cattle. The herbage is sweeter and more nutritive, and there is an unlimited range for stock, without any danger of their committing trespass. There is, besides, for the first two hundred miles a constant succession of hill and dale, admirably suited for the pasture of sheep, the wool of which will without doubt eventually become the principal export of this colony, and may be conveyed across these mountains at an inconsi- derable expense.

The discovery of this vast and as yet imper- fectly known tract of country, was made in the year 1814, and will doubtless be hereafter pro- ductive of the most important results. It has indeed already given a new aspect to the colony, and will form, at some future day, a memorable era in its history. Nothing is now wanting to render this great western wilderness the seat of a powerful community, but the discovery of a navigable river communicating with the western coast. That such exists, although the search for it has hitherto proved ineffectual, there can be no doubt, if we may be allowed to judge from analogy ; since in the whole compass of the earth, there is no single instance of so large a country as New Holland, not possessing at least one great navigable river. To ascertain

88 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

this point has been one of the leading objects of Governor Macquarie's administration, ever since the discovery of the pass across the moun- tains. Several unsuccessful expeditions have been fitted out with this view from Sydney, both by sea and land. The last of which we have learned the result, was conducted by Mr. Oxleyr the surveyor-general, and is most worthy of notice, as well from the extent of country which he traversed, as from the probability that the river which he discovered, discharges itself into the ocean on some part of the western coast. The summary of this journey is contained in the following letter, addressed by him to the Go- vernor on his return from this expedition to Bathurst Plains.

" Bathurst, 30th August, 1817. " SIR,

" I have the honour to acquaint your Excel- lency with my arrival at this place last evening, with the persona comprising the expedition to the westward, which your Excellency was pleased to place under my direction.

" Your Excellency is already informed of my proceedings up to the 30th of April. The limits of a letter will not permit me to enter at large into the occurrences of nineteen weeks ; and as I shall have the honour of waiting on your

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 89

Excellency in a few days, I trust you will have the goodness to excuse the summary account I now offer to your Excellency.

" I proceeded down the L'achlan in company with the boats until the 12th of May, the country rapidly descending until the waters of the river rose to a level with it, and dividing into numerous branches, inundated the country to the west and north-west, and prevented any further progress in that direction, the river itself being lost among marshes : up to this point it had received no accession of waters from either side, but on the contrary was con- stantly dissipating in lagoons and swamps.

" The impossibility of proceeding further in conjunction with the boats being evident, I determined upon maturer deliberation, to haul them up, and divesting ourselves of every thing that could possibly be spared, to proceed with the horses loaded with the additional provisions from the boats, in such a course towards the coast as would intersect any stream that might arise from the divided waters of the Lachlan.

" In pursuance of this plan, I quitted the river on the llth May, taking a south-west course towards Cape Northumberland, as the best one to answer my intended purpose. I will not

90 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

here detail the difficulties and privations we experienced in passing through a barren and desolate country, without any water but such rain water as was found remaining in holes and the crevices of rocks. I continued this course until the 9th of June, when having lost two horses through fatigue and want, and the others iu a deplorable condition, I changed our course to north, along a range of lofty hills, running in that direction, as they afforded the only means of procuring water until we should fall in with some running stream. On this course I continued until the 23d of June, when we again fell in with a stream, which we had at first some difficulty to recognise as theLachlan, it being little larger than one of the marshes of it, where it was quitted on the 17th of May.

" T did not hesitate a moment to pursue this course ; not that the nature of the country, or its own appearance in any manner indicated that it would become navigable, or was even per- manent; but I was unwilling that the smallest doubt should remain of any navigable waters falling westward into the sea, between the limits pointed out in my instructions.

u I continued along the banks of the stream until the 8th of July, it having taken during this period a westerly direction, and passing

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 91

through a perfectly level country, barren in the extreme, and being evidently at periods entirely under water. To this point it had been gradu- ally diminishing, and spreading its waters over stagnated lagoons and morasses, without receiv- ing any stream that we knew of during the whole extent of its course. The banks were not more than three feet high, and the marks of flood in the shrubs and bushes, shewed that at times it rose between two and three feet higher, causing the whole country to become a marsh, and altogether uninhabitable.

" Further progress westward, had it been pos- sible, was now useless, as there was neither hill nor rising ground of any kind within the com- pass of our view, which was only bounded by the horizon in every quarter, and entirely devoid of timber except a few diminutive gums on the very edge of the stream, might be so termed. The water in the bed of the lagoon, as it might now be properly denominated, was stagnant ; its breadth about twenty feet, and the heads of grass growing in it, shewed it to be about three feet deep.

" This originally unlocked for and truly sin- gular termination of a river, which we had anxiously hoped and reasonably expected would have led to a far different conclusion, filled us

92 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

with the most painful sensations. We were full five hundred miles west of Sydney, and nearly in its latitude ; and it had taken us ten weeks of unremitted exertion to proceed so far. The nearest part of the coast about Cape Ber- nouilli, had it been accessible, was distant about a hundred and fifty miles. We had demon- strated beyond the shadow of a doubt, that no river whatever could fall into the sea, between Cape Otway and Spencer's Gulph; at least none deriving their waters from the eastern coast, and that the country south of the parallel of 34°, and west of the meridian of 147° 30' East, was uninhabitable and useless for all the pur- poses of civilized man.

" It now became my duty to make our remain- ing resources as extensively useful to the colony as our circumstances would allow : these were much diminished : an accident to one of the boats, in the outset of the expedition, had deprived us of one-third of our dry provisions, of which we had originally but eighteen weeks ; and we had been in consequence for some time on a reduced ration of two quarts of flour per man, per week. To return to the depot by the route we had come, would have been as useless as impossible ; and seri- ously considering the spirit of your Excel- lency's instructions, I determined upon the

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 93

most mature deliberation, to take such a route on our return, as would, I hoped, best comport with your Excellency's views, had our present situation ever been contemplated.

" Returning down the Lachlan, T re-com- menced the survey of it from the point in which it was made, the 23d of June; intending to continue up its banks until its connection with the marshes, where we quitted it on the 17th May, was satisfactorily established, as also to ascertain if any streams might have escaped our research. The connection with all the points of the survey previously ascer- tained, was completed between the 19th of July and the 3d of August. In the space passed over within that period, the river had divided into various branches, and formed three fine lakes, which, with one near the determi- nation of our journey westward, were the only considerable pieces of water we had yet seen ; and I now estimated that the river, from the place where first made by Mr. Evans, had run a course, taking all its windings, of upwards of twelve hundred miles ; a length of course altogether unprecedented, when the single nature of the river is considered, and that its original is its only supply of water during that distance.

" Crossing at this point it was my intention

94 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

to take a north-east course, to intersect the country, and if possible ascertain what had become of the Macquarie river, which it was clear had never joined the Lachlan. This course led us through a country to the full as bad as any we had yet seen, and equally devoid of water, the want of which again much dis- tressed us. On the 7th of August the scene began to change, and the country to assume a very different aspect : we were now quitting the neighbourhood of the Lachlan, and had passed to the north-east of the high range of hills, which on this parallel bounds the low country to the north of that river. To the north- west and north, the country was high and open, with good forest land ; and on the 10th we had the satisfaction to fall in with the first stream running northerly. This renewed our hopes of soon falling in with the Macquarie, and we continued upon the same course, occasionally inclining to the eastward, until the 19th, passing through a fine luxuriant country, well watered, crossing in that space of time nine streams, having a northerly course through rich vallies ; the country in every direc- tion being moderately high and open, and generally as fine as can be imagined.

" No doubt remained upon our minds that those streams fell into the Macquarie, and to view it before it received such an accession,

SETTLEMENTS IX NEW HOLLAND. 95

was our first wish. On the 19th we were gra- tified by falling in with a river running through a most beautiful country, and which I would have been well contented to have believed the river we were in search of. Accident led us down this stream about a mile, when we were surprised by its junction with a river coming from the south, of such width and magnitude, as to dispel all doubts as to this last being the river we had so long anxiously looked for. Short as our resources were, we could not resist the temptation this beautiful country offered us, to remain two days on the junction of the river, for the purpose of examining the vicinity to as great an extent as possible.

" Our examination increased the satisfaction we had previously felt : as far as the eye could reach in every direction, a rich and picturesque country extended, abounding in limestone, slate, good timber, and every other requisite that could render an uncultivated country desirable. The soil cannot be excelled, whilst a noble river of the first magnitude affords the means of con- veying its productions from one part to the other. Where I quitted it its course was north- erly, and we were then north of the parallel of Port Stevens, being in latitude 32° 45' South, 148° 58' East longitude.

96 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

" It appeared to me that the Macquarie had taken a N. N. W. course from Bathurst, and that it must have received immense accessions of water in its course from that place. We viewed it at a period best calculated to form an accurate judgment of its importance, when it was neither swelled by floods beyond its natu- ral and usual height, nor contracted within its limits by summer droughts : of its magnitude when it should have received the streams we had crossed, independent of any it may receive from the east, which from the boldness and height of the country, I presume, must be at least as many, some idea may be formed, when at this point it exceeded in breadth and apparent depth, the Hawkesbury at Windsor. Many of the branches were of grander and more extended proportion than the admired one on the Nepean River from the Warragambia to Emu Plains.

" Resolving to keep as near the river as pos- sible during the remainder of our course to Bathurst, and endeavour to ascertain at least on the west side, what waters fell into it, on the 22d we proceeded up the river, and between the point quitted and Bathurst, crossed the sources of numberless streams, all running into the Macquarie ; two of them were nearly as large as that river itself at Bathurst. The

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 97

country, from whence all these streams derive their source, was mountainous and irregular, and appeared equally so on the east side of the Macquarie. This description of country extended to the immediate vicinity of Bathurst > but to the west of those lofty Kanges, the country was broken into low grassy hills, and fine valleys watered by rivulets rising on the west side of the mountains, which on their eastern side pour their waters directly into the Mac- quarie.

" These westerly streams appeared to me to join that which I had at first sight taken for the Macquarie ; and when united fall into it at the point at which it was first discovered, on the 19th hist.

« We reached this place last evening, without a single accident having occurred during the whole progress of the expedition, which from this point has encircled within the parallels of 34° 30' South, and 32° South, and between the meridians of 149° 43' and 143° 40 East, a space of nearly one thousand miles.

" I shall hasten to lay before your Excel- lency the journals, charts, and drawings, expla- natory of the various occurrences of our diver- sified route ; infinitely gratified if our exertions should appear to your Excellency commensu-

H

98 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

surate with your expectations, and the ample means which your care and liberality placed at my disposal.

" I feel the most particular pleasure in in- forming your Excellency of the obligations I am under to Mr. Evans, the Deputy Sur- veyor, for his able advice and cordial co-opera- tion throughout the expedition, and, as far as his previous researches had extended, the accu- racy and fidelity of his narration was fully exemplified.

" It would perhaps appear presuming in me to hazard an opinion upon the merits of persons engaged in a pursuit of which I have little knowledge ; the extensive and valuable collec- tion of plants formed by Mr. A. Cunningham, the king's botanist, and Mr. C. Frazer, the colonial botanist, will best evince to your Excel- lency the unwearied industry and zeal bestowed on the collection and preservation of them : in every other respect they also merit the highest praise.

" From the nature of the greater part of the country passed over, our mineralogical collec- tion is but small. Mr. S. Parr did as much as could be done in that branch, and throughout endeavoured to render himself as useful a* possible.

SETTLEMENT* IN NEW HOLLAND. 99

" Of the men on whom the chief care of the horses and baggage devolved, it is impossible to speak in too high terms. Their conduct in periods of considerable privation, was such as must redound to their credit; and their orderly, regular, and obedient behaviour could not be exceeded. It may be principally attributed to their care and attention that we lost only three horses ; and that, with the exception of the loss of the dry provisions already mentioned, no other accident happened during the course of our journey. I most respectfully beg leave to recommend them to your Excellency's favourable notice.

" I trust your Excellency will have the good- ness to excuse any omissions or inaccuracies that may appear in this letter ; the messenger setting out immediately will not allow me to revise or correct it.

" I have the honour, &c.

" J. OXLEY, Surveyor-Gen."

To his Excellency Lachlan Macquarie, Esq.

The course and direction of this river is the object of two expeditions, of which we may shortly expect to learn the result. One is by H 2

100 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

land, and conducted by the same gentleman ;* the other by sea, and under the command of Lieutenant King, R. N. ; whose father, Cap- tain King, was formerly Lieutenant Governor of Norfolk Island, and afterwards Governor in Chief of New South Wales.

If the sanguine hopes, to which the discovery of this river has given birth, should be realized,

* The result of Mr. Oxley's second journey into the interior, is detailed at length in the sequel. Lieutenant King's voyage of discovery has added but little to the knowledge previously derived from the labours of Flinders, and other navigators. It appears that he was prevented from attempting that minute survey of the coast, which could alone have led to the disco- very of the river he was in search of, from the smallness of his vessel, and the immense fleets of Malay prows which he every where fell in with. These people, it would seem, annu- ally visit the north and north-west shores of this island in search of beche la mer, and most likely many other valuable articles of commerce, with the existence of which we are as yet unacquainted ; and it required all Lieutenant King's care and vigilance, to prevent them from capturing his vessel, a small sloop with only four guns and sixteen men ; so that he was frequently obliged to stand out to sea, when the objects of his voyage required that he should have been close in with the land. By the last accounts received from the colony, it appears that he had proceeded a second time in the same vessel, which is unfortunately the only king's vessel at present in the colony that is in any wise fit for the undertaking. I do not, therefore, entertain any very sanguine expectations that his present voyage will terminate more successfully than hit last.

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 101

and it should be found to empty itself into the ocean, on the north-west coast, which is the only part of this vast island that has not been accurately surveyed, in what mighty concep- tions of the future greatness and power of this colony may we not reasonably indulge ? The nearest distance from the point, at which Mr. Oxley left off, to any part of the western coast, is very little short of two thousand miles. If this river, therefore, be already of the size of the Hawkesbury at Windsor, which is not less than two hundred and fifty yards in breadth, and of sufficient depth to float a seventy-four gun-ship, it is not difficult to imagine what must be its magnitude at its confluence with the ocean ; before it can arrive at which, it has to traverse a country nearly two thousand miles in extent. If it possess the usual sinuosities of rivers, its course to the sea cannot be less than from five to six thousand miles, and the endless accession of tributary streams, which it must receive in its passage through so great an ex- tent of country, will without doubt enable it to vie in point of magnitude with any river in the world. In this event its influence in promoting the progress of population in this fifth continent will be prodigious, and, in all probability, before the expiration of many years, give an entirely new impulse to the tide of population. And here it may not be altogether irrelevant to enter

102 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

into a short disquisition on the natural superior- ity possessed by those countries, which are most abundantly intersected with navigable rivers. That such are most favourable for all the pur- poses of civilized man, the history of the world affords the most satisfactory proof. There is not, in fact, a single instance on record of any remarkable degree of wealth and power having been attained by any nation, which has not possessed facilities for commerce, either in the number or size of its rivers, or in the spacious- ness of its harbours, and the general contiguity of its provinces to the sea. The Mediterranean has given rise to so many great and powerful nations, only from the superior advantages, which it afforded for commerce, during the long infancy of navigation. The number and fertility of its islands, the serenity of its climate, the smoothness of its waters, the smallness of its entrance, which, although of itself sufficient to indicate to the skilful pilot the proximity of the ocean, is still more clearly defined by the Pillars of Hercules towering on each side of it, and forming land-marks not to be mistaken by the timid, the inexperienced, or the bewildered ; — such are the main causes why the Mediterra- nean continued, until the discovery and applica- tion of the properties of the magnet, the seat of successive empires so superior to the rest of the world in affluence and power. It is indeed

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 103

almost impossible to conceive, how any conside- rable degree of wealth and civilization can be acquired without the aid of navigation. From the moment savages abandon the hunter state, and resign themselves to the settled pursuits of agriculture, the march of population must inevitably follow the direction of navigable waters ; since in the infancy of societies these furnish the only means of indulging that spirit of barter which is co-existent with association, is the main spring of industry, and the ultimate cause of all civilization and refinement. In such situations the rude canoe abundantly suffices to maintain the first necessary interchanges of the superfluities of one individual for those of another. Roads, waggons, &c. are refinements entirely unknown in the incipient stages of society. They are the gradual results of civili- zation, and consequent only on the accumulation of wealth and the attainment of a certain point of maturity. Canals are a still later result of civilization, and are undoubtedly the greatest effort for the encouragement of barter, aad the development of industry, to which human power and ingenuity have yet given birth. But, after all, what are these artificial channels of communication, these ne plus ultras of hu- man contrivance, compared with those natural mediums of intercourse, those mighty rivers which pervade every quarter of the globe ?

104 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF TUT

What are they to the Danube, the Nile, the Ganges, the Mississippi, or the Amazon ? What are they, in fact, compared even with those infinite minor navigable streams, of which scarcely any country, however circumscribed, is entirely destitute ? What ! but mere pigmy imitations of nature, which, wherever there is a sufficient number of rivers, will never be resorted to, unless it be for the purpose of con- necting them together, or of avoiding those long and tedious sinuosities to which they are all more or less subject.

Viewing, therefore, this newly discovered river only in the light of a river of the first mag- nitude, it must be evident that this important discovery will have an incalculable influence on the future progress of colonization ; but, to be enabled fully to estimate the beneficial con- sequences of which it will be productive, it is essential to take into the estimate the probable direction of its course, and the point of its con- fluence with the ocean. This I have already stated is with good reason imagined to be on the north-west coast ; since every other part of this vast island has been so accurately surveyed, as scarcely to admit of the possibility of so large a river falling into the sea in any other position. Assuming, therefore, that the course of this river is in the direction thus generally supposed, it

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 105

will be seen that it will surpass all the rivers in the world in variety of climate ; since, reckon- ing merely from the spot where Mr. Oxley discovered it to its conjectural embouchure, there will be a difference of latitude of twenty degrees. Even omitting, then, to take into computation the probable length of its course from the place where it first becomes navigable, to the point where that gentleman fell in with it, (and it was there running from the south, and must have already been navigable for a considerable distance, if we may judge from its size,) the world does not afford any parallel of a river traversing s»o great a diversity of climate. The majority indeed of the rivers, which may be termed u rivers of the first magni- tude," run from west to east, or from east to west, and consequently vary their climate only in proportion to their distance from the sea, to the elevation of their beds, and to the extent of country traversed by such of their branches as run at right angles with them. Of this sort are the St. Lawrence in North America, the Oronoko and Amazon in South America ; the Niger, Senegal, and Gambia in Africa ; the Danube and Elbe in Europe ; and the Hoang Ho, and Kiang Keou in Asia. It must indeed be admitted, that every quarter of the globe furnishes some striking exceptions to this rule, such as the Mississippi and River

106 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

Plate in America ; the Nile in Africa ; the Rhine, the Dniester, the Don, and the Volga, in Europe ; and the Indus and Ganges in Asia ; all of which certainly run from north to south, or south to north, and consequently command a great variety of climate.

In this respect, however, none of them will be worthy of comparison with this newly dis« covered river, if the point of its confluence with the ocean should happily be where it is conjec- tured. And yet we find that all the countries, through which the above-named rivers pass, either have been or promise to be, the seats of much more wealthy and powerful nations, than the countries, through which those rivers pass whose course is east or west. The cause of this superiority of one over the other is to be traced to the greater diversity of productions, which will necessarily be raised on the banks and in the vicinity of those rivers whose course is north or south, a circumstance that is alone sufficient to insure the possessors of them, under governments equally favourably to the extension of industry, a much greater share of commerce and wealth, than can possibly belong to the inhabitants of those rivers whose course is in a contrary direction : and this for the simplest reason ; because rivers of the former description contain within themselves many of those pro- ductions, which the latter can only obtain from

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 107

abroad. In the one, therefore, there is not only a necessity for having a recourse to foreign supply, which does not exist in the other, but also a great obstacle to internal navigation, arising from the sameness of produce, and the consequent impediment to barter, which must prevail in a country, where all have the same commodities to dispose of, where all wish to sell and none to buy. To this manifest su- periority, which rivers running on a meridian claim over those running on a parallel, there is no counterpoise ; since they both contain equal facilities for exporting their surplus productions, and receiving in exchange the superfluities of other countries. It may, indeed, here be urged, that there is, upon the whole, no sur- plus produce in the world ; and that, as the surplus, whatever may be its extent, of one country, may be always exchanged for that of another, as great a variety of luxuries may be thus obtained by the inhabitants of rivers having an eastern or western course, as can possibly be raised by the inhabitants of rivers having a northern or southern ; and that con- sequently the same stimulus to an inland navi- gation will be created by the eventual distribu- tion of the various commodities procured by foreign commerce, as if they had been the products of the country itself. To this it may be replied, that, although a much greater

108 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

variety of products may undoubtedly be im- ported from foreign countries, than can possi- bly be raised within the compass of any one navigable river, such products cannot after- wards be sold at so cheap a rate. In all countries, therefore, where they are imported from abroad, the increase in their price must occasion a pro- portionate diminution in their consumption, and in so far inevitably operate as a check to internal navigation.

This variety of production, and the additional encouragement thus afforded by it, to what is well known to be one of the main sources of national wealth, are sufficient to account for the superior degree of civilization, affluence, and power, which have in general characterized those countries whose rivers flow in a northern or southern direction. Some few nations, indeed, which do not possess such great natural advan- tages, have supplied the want of them by their own skill and industry, and hare, in the end, triumphed over the efforts of nature to check their progress. Of a people who have thus overstepped these natural barriers opposed to their advancement, and, in spite of them, attained the summit of wealth and civilization, China, perhaps, furnishes the most remarkable example. The two principal rivers of that country, the Hoang Ho, or Yellow River, and

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 109

the Kiang Keou, or Great River, run from west to east ; yet, by means of what is termed by way of eminence, " The Great Canal," the Chinese have not only joined these two mighty streams together, but have extended the com- munication to the northward, as far as the main branch of the Pei Ho, and to the south- ward as far as the mouth of the Ningapo ; thus establishing by the intervention of this stupen- dous monument of human industry and perse- verance, and the various branches of the four rivers which it connects, an inland navigation between the great cities of Peking and Nan- king, and affording every facility for the tran- sport of the infinite products raised within the compass of a country containing from twelve to fifteen degrees difference of latitude, and about the same difference of longitude ; or, in other words, a surface of about five hundred and eighteen thousand four hundred square miles.

This instance, however, of equal or superior civilization thus attained by a nation, notwith- standing the principal rivers of their country run from west to east, does not at all militate against the natural superiority which has been conceded to those countries whose rivers run in a contrary direction. It only shews what may be effected by a wise and politic government averse to the miseries of war, and steadily bent

110 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

on the arts of peace. The very attempts, indeed, of this enlightened people to supply the natural deficiencies of their country by canals, are the strongest commendations, that can be urged in favour of a country, where no such artificial sub- stitutes are necessary ; where nature, of her own lavish bounty, has created facilities for the progress of industry and civilization, which it would require the labour and maturity of ages imperfectly to imitate.

How far, indeed, these mighty contrivances of the all-bounteous Creator, for the promotion and development of industry, outstrip all hu- man imitation, the occurrences of the passing hour furnish the most satisfactory and conclusive evidence. The vast tide of emigration that is incessantly rolling along the banks of the Mis- sissippi, and of its tributary streams, and the numberless cities, towns, and settlements, that have sprung up, as it were, by the agency of magic, in what but a few years back was one boundless and uninterrupted wilderness, speak a language not to be mistaken by the most ignorant or prejudiced. The western territory, which, though a province but of yesterday, soon promises to rival the richest and most powerful members of the American Union, affords an instance of rapid colonization unparalleled in the history of the world, and offers an incon-

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. Ill

testable proof of the natural superiority which countries, whose rivers run in a northern or southern course, possess over all others.

But this fact is not merely established by the experience of the present day, it is equally au- thenticated by the testimony of past ages. What was the reason why Egypt was for so many centuries the seat of affluence and power, but the Nile ? that India is still rich and populous, but the Indus and Ganges ? These countries, indeed, are no longer the great and powerful empires they were, although the natural advantages of their situations are still unchanged. But what mighty ravages will not a blood-thirsty and overwhelming despotism effect ? What health and vigour can belong to that body politic which is forced to inhale the nauseous effluvia of tyranny ? Prosperity is a plant that can only flourish in an atmosphere fanned by the whole- some breath of freedom. The highest fertility of soil, the greatest benignity of climate, the most commanding superiority of position, will otherwise be unavailing. Freedom may in the end convert the most barren and inhospitable waste into a paradise ; but the inevitable result of tyranny is desolation.

The probable* course of this newly discovered

• The result of Mr. Oxley's last journey into the interior, faa* clouded for the moment these flattering anticipations with

112 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

river, being thus in every respect so decidedly favourable for the foundation of a rich and powerful community, there can be little doubt that the government of this country will imme- diately avail themselves of the advantages which it presents, and establish a settlement at its '

respect to the probable course and magnitude of the Mac- quarie River. After tracing it for some hundred miles from the spot, where he had terminated his excursion in his pre- vious expedition, during the whole of which distance his original expectations, that it would eventually empty itself into the sea on the north-west coast of the island, appear to have daily gained ground, he was checked in his progress by the river decreasing in depth from twenty to five feet, and suddenly forming a junction with interior waters. Mr. Oxley's con- jecture, and he hazards it with great confidence, is, that they " were in the vicinity of an inland sea, most probably a shoal one, and gradually decreasing or being filled up by the immense depositions, from the waters flowing into it from the higher lands." For several days before the river had assumed this ex- traordinary termination, it had been considerably swollen by heavy falls of rain, and had overflowed the country on each side of it, to a great distance ; till at last they found themselves, in their little skiff, placed in the midst of a sea of which the eye could not, in any direction, discover the limits. Mr. Oxley'f words are, " that they had entirely lost sight of land and trees." May he not, therefore, have deviated from the channel of the river at the time when it appeared to him to have undergone this extraordinary metamorphosis ? And even allowing that there is, as he supposes, a great inland sea or lake, is it not more probable that it is deep than shallow ? That many other rivers and streams likewise fall into it, and that afterwards the united waters of the whole form one vast river, and flow onwards like the St. Lawrence to the ocean? The world certainly

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 113

mouth. What a sublime spectacle will it then be for the philosopher to mark the gradual progress of population from the two extremities of this river ; to behold the two tides of coloni- zation flowing in opposite directions, and con- stantly hastening to that junction, of which the

affords a few instances of rivers forming large internal lakes, which have no visible connection with the ocean. These, however, are mere exceptions to the general rule, and if we could be guided in our judgment by analogy, we should have but little hesitation in concluding that the immense accumu- lation of waters, which Mr. Oxley discovered, have an outlet to the ocean by means of one or more large rivers. But almost every thing connected with this fifth continent is sin- gular and eccentric. It has an animal and vegetable creation peculiar to itself, and it is not therefore impossible that it may be equally dissimilar to all other parts of the world in iti structure and formation. At present all that can be said, with respect to the interior of this vast country, is but conjecture and uncertainty. But if Mr. Oxley's last journey has left ua nearly as much in the dark as ever, on this interesting subject, one signal benefit at least has resulted from his labours — the discovery of Port Macquarie. and the beautiful country on. the banks, and in the vicinity of the river Hastings. This enchanting spot is about 3° to the northward of Port Jackson; and it is in contemplation to form a settlement there immedi- ately. It is indeed most probable that steps have already been taken to carry this project into effect. There is no doubt that the climate is sufficiently warm to produce cotton, sugar, coffee, and many other valuable commodities which cannot be raised at Port Jackson, and the more southern settlements; while, on the other hand, many of the productions of these latter, will, most probably, only arrive there at an inferior

I

114 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

combined waters shall overspread the whole of this fifth continent. What a cheering prospect for the philanthropist to behold what is now one vast and mournful wilderness, becoming the smiling seat of industry and the social arts; ty see its hills and dales covered with bleating

degree of perfection. This variety of climate and production, therefore, whilst it will have the happiest effect in promoting the agricultural prosperity of the settlements, separately, by creating a demand in each for the produce of the others, will contribute to the wealth and independence of the whole of them, considered as but different branches of one community. By the last accounts it was stated to be Governor Macqua- rie's intention to remove the prisoners thither from th? Coal River, and to grant the fine country on the banks of this river to free settlers. This plan is the more advisable, in as much as a road has lately been discovered from thence to Port Jackson, and it is in consequence no longer practicable to keep the prisoners,, who are transported to "Newcastle, from making their escape. As a place, therefore, of punishment, the degree of which depends as much on the state of isolation in which they are kept, as on the severer labours they have to perform, the Coal Hirer has in a great measure ceased to be operative; while, on the contrary, the very discovery which has rendered it no longer fit for this purpose, has en- hanced its value, in a ten-fold ratio, for all the purposes of colonization. Besides, in the formation of new establishments, there is always at the offset much unavoidable hardship and privation; and it is evidently far more just and politic, that whatever of suffering there may be to be endured in such un- dertakings, should fall to the lot of the worthless and the vile, than be assigned loathe more respectable classes of the com- munity. Governor Macquarie, therefore, in thus casting

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 116

flocks, lowing herds, and waving corn ; to hear the joyful notes of the shepherd, and the enlivening cries of the husbandman, instead of the appalling yell of the savage, and the plaintive howl of the wolf ; and to witness a country which nature seems to have designed as

the onus of settling new districts on the reconvicted culprits, and in making them the pioneers to clear the way for useful and deserving colonists, will have acted wilh his usual fore- sight and ability. But to return from this digression to Mr. Oxley's account of his last expedition, as given in his letter to the Governor. It is as follows: —

Port Stephens, Nov. 1, 1818. SIP,

I- have the honour to inform your Excellency that I arrived at this port to-day ; and circumstances rendering it. necessary that Mr. Evans should proceed to Newcastle, I embrace the opportunity to make to your Excellency a brief report of the route pursued by the western expedition entrusted to my di- rection.

My letter, dated the 22d June last, will have made your Excellency acquainted with the sanguine hopes I entertained from the appearance of the river, that its termination would be either in interior waters, or coast-ways. When I wrote that letter to your Excellency, I certainly did not anticipate the possibility that a very few days further travelling would lead us to its termination as an accessible river.

On the 29th of June, having traced its course without the smallest diminution or addition, about seventy miles further to the N.N.W. there being a slight fresh in the river, it overflowed its banks ; and, although we were at the distance of nearly three miles from it, the country was so perfectly level that the waters soon spread over the ground on which w«

i 2

116 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

her master-piece, at length fulfilling the gra- cious intentions of its all-bounteous Author, by administering to the wants and contribu- ting to the happiness of millions. What a proud sight for the Briton to view his country pouring forth her teeming millions to people

were. We had been for some days before travelling over such very low grounds, that the people in the boats finding the country flooded proceeded slowly, a circumstance which enabled me to send them directions to return to the station we had quitted in the morning, where the ground was a little more elevated. This spot being by no means secure, it was arranged that the horses with the provisions should return to the last high land we had quitted, a distance of sixteen miles ; and, as it appeared to me that the body of water in the river was too important to be much affected by the mere overflowing of its waters, I determined to take the large boat, and in her to endeavour to discover their point of discharge.

On the 2d July I proceeded in the boat down the river, and in the course of the day went nearly thirty miles on a N. N. W. course, for ten of which there had been, strictly speaking, no land, as the flood made the surrounding country a perfect sea; the banks of the river were heavily timbered; and many large spaces within our view, covered with the common reed, were also encircled by large trees. On the 3d, the main channel of the river was much contracted but very deep, the banks being under water from a foot to eighteen inches; the stream continued for about twenty miles on the same course as yesterday, when we lost sight of land and trees, the channel of 'the river winding through reeds, among which the water was about three feet deep, the current having the same direction as the rirer. It continued in this manner for near four miles more; when, without any previous change

SETTLEMENTS IN NEVT HOLLAND. 117

new hives, to see her forming in the most remote parts of the earth new establishments which may hereafter rival her old ; and to behold thousands who would perish from want within her immediate limits, procuring an easy and comfortable subsistence in those which are

in the breadth, depth, and rapidity of the stream, and when I was sanguine in my expectations of soon entering the long desired lake, it all at once eluded our further pursuit, by spreading on all points from north-west to north-east over the plain of reeds which surrounded us, the river decreasing in depth from upwards of twenty feet to less than five feet, and flowing over a bottom of tenacious blue mud. and the current still running with nearly the same rapidity as when the water was confined within the banks of the river. This point of junction with interior waters^ or where the Maequarie ceased to have the form of a river, is in latitude 30. 45. south, and longitude 147. 10. east.

To assert positively that we were on the margin of the lake or sea into which this great body of water is discharged, might reasonably be deemed a conclusion that has nothing but conjecture for its basis; but, if an opinion ir.ay be hazarded from actual appearances, which our subsequent route tended more strongly to confirm, I feel confident, we were in the immediate vicinity of an inland sea, most probably a shoal one, and gradually decreasing, or being filled up by the im- mense depositions from the waters flowing into it from the higher lands, which, on this singular continent, seem not to extend a few hundred miles from the sea coast, as, westward of these bounding ranges (which, from the observations I have been enabled to make, appear to me to run parallel to the direction of the coast) there is not a single hill or other eminence discoverable on this apparently boundless space,

1 18 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

more remote ; and, instead of weakening her power and diminishing her resources, effectually contributing to the augmentation of both, and forming monuments which may descend to the latest posterity, indestructible records of her greatness and glory.

those isolated points excepted, on which we remained until the 28th of July, the rocks and stones composing which are a distinct species from those found on the above ranges.

I trust that your Excellency will believe, that, fully im- pressed with the great importance of the question as to the interior formation of this great country, I was anxiously solicitous to remove all ground for further conjecture, by the most careful observations on the nature of the country, for though there appeared to me sufficient proof that the interior was cover- ed with water, yet I felt it my duty to leave no measure untried which could in any way tend to an elucidation of the fact.

It was physically impracticable to gain the edge of these waters by making a detour round ihe flooded portion of the country on the south-west side of the river, as we proved it to be a barren wet marsh, over-run with a species of polygonum, and not offering a single dry spot to which our course might be directed ; and, that there was no probability of finding any in that direction, I had a certain knowledge from the observa- tions made during the former expedition.

To circle the flooded country to the north-east, yet re- mained to be tried ; and when on the 7th July I returned to the tents, which I found pitched on the high land before men- tioned, and from whence we could see mountains at the dis- tance of eighty miles to the eastward, the country between being a perfect level, Mr. Evans was sent forward to explore the country to the north-east, that being the point on which I purposed to set forward.

SETTLEMENTS I* NEW HOLLAND. 119

SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE.

The system of agriculture pursued in this colony does not materially differ from that which prevails in the parent country. During the

On the 1 8th July, Mr. Evans returned, having been pre- vented from continuing on a north-east course beyond two day's journey, by waters running north-easterly through high reeds, and which were most probably those of the Mac- quarie River, as during his absence it had swelled so consi- derably as entirely to surround us, coming within a few yards of the tent. Mr. Evans afterwards proceeded more easterly, and at a distance of fifty miles from the Macquarie River, crossed another much wider, but not so deep, running to the north ; advancing still more easterly, he went nearly to the base of the mountains seen from the tent, and returning by a more southerly route, found the country somewhat drier, but not in the least more elevated.

The discretionary instructions, with which your Excellency was pleased to furnish me, leaving me at liberty as to the course to be pursued by the expedition on its return to Port Jackson, I determined to attempt making the sea coast on an easterly course, first proceeding along the base of the high range before mentioned, which I still indulged hopes might lead me to the margin of these, or any other interior waters which this portion of New South Wales might contain, and embracing a low line of coast on which many small openings remained unexamined, at the same time that the knowledge obtained of the country we might encircle, might materially tend to the advantage of the colony, in the event of any com- munication with the interior being discovered.

We quitted this station on the 30th July, being in latitude

120 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

earlier stages of these settlements, the hoe-hus- bandry was a necessary evil ; but the great increase in the stock of horses and cattle has at last almost completely superseded it ; and the plough-husbandry is now, and has been for many year past, in general practice. In new lands,

31. 18. S. and longitude 147. 31, E. on our route for the coast,, and on the 8th of August arrived at the lofty range of moun- tains to which our course had been directed. From the highest point of this range we had the most extended prospect. From South by the West to North it was one vast level, resembling the ocean in extent, but yet without water being discerned, the range of high land extending to the N. E. by N. elevated points of which were distinguished upwards of one hundred and twenty miles.

From this point, in conformity to the resolution I had made on quitting the Macquarie River, I pursued a N. E. course; but after encountering numerous difficulties, from the country being an entire marsh, interspersed with quicksands, until the 20th August, when, finding myself surrounded by bogs, I was reluctantly compelled to take a more easterly course, having practically proved, that the country could not be traversed on any point deviating from the main range of hills which bound the interior, although partial dry portion* of level alluvial extend from their base westerly to a distance which I estimate to exceed one hundred and fifty miles, before it is gradually lost in the waters which I am clearly convinced cover the interior.

The alteration in our course more eagerly soon brought us into a very different description of country, forming a remark- able contrast to that which had so long occupied us. Numerous fine streams running northerly watered a rich and beautiful country, through which we passed until the 7th of September, when we crossed the Meridian of Sydney, as also the most

.SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 121

indeed, the hoe is still unavoidably used during1 the first year of their cultivation, on account of the numerous roots and other impediments to the plough, with which lands in a state of nature invariably abound ; but excepting these occasions, and the instances of settlers, who

elevated known land in New South Wales, being then in latitude 31. 30. S. We were afterwards considerably em- barrassed and impeded by very lofty mountains. On the 20th of September we gained the summit of the most elevated mountains in this extensive range, and from it were gratified with a view of the ocean, at a distance of fifty miles, the country beneath us being formed into an immense triangular valley, the base of which extended along the coast from the Three Brothers on the south, to high land north of Smoky Cape. We had the further gratification to find that we were near the source of a large stream running to the sea. On descending the mountain, we followed the course of this river, increased by many accessions, until the 8th of October, when we arrived on the beach near the entrance of the port which received it, having passed over, since the 8th of July, a track of country nearly five hundred miles in extent from west to east. This inlet is situated in latitude 31. 23. 30. S.'and longitude 152. 50. 18. East, and had been previously noticed by Captain Flinders, but, from the distance at which he was necessarily obliged to keep from the coast, he did not discover that it had a navigable entrance ; of course our most anxious attention was dire'cted to this important point ; and although the want of a boat rendered the examination as to the depth of water in the channel incomplete, yet there appeared to be at low water at least three fathoms, with a safe though narrow entrance between the sand rollers on either hand. Having ascertained thus far, and that by its means the fine country, on the banks and in the neighbourhood of the river, might be of future

122 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

are unable to purchase horses or oxen, and consequently adhere to the original mode of cultivation from necessity, the hoe-husbandry is completely exploded. Until the year 1803, eighteen years after the foundation of this colony, the plough-husbandry was confined to a

service to the Colony, I took the liberty to name it Port Macquarie, in honour of your Excellency, as the original promoter of the expedition.

On the 12th October we quitted Port Macquarie, on our course for Sydney, and, although no charts can be more accurate in their outline and principal points than those of Captain Flinders, we soon experienced how little the best marine charts can be depended upon, to show all the inlets and openings upon an extensive line of coast ; the distance his ship was generally at, from that portion of the coast we had to travel over, did not allow him to perceive openings, which, though doubtless of little consequence to shipping, yet pre- sented the most serious difficulties to travellers by land, and of which, if they had been laid down in the chart, I should have hesitated to have attempted the passage, without assis- tance from the sea-ward ; as it is, we are indebted for our preservation, and that of the horses, to the providential dis- covery of a small boat on the beach, which the men with the most cheerful alacrity carried upwards of ninety miles on their shoulders, thereby enabling us to overcome obstacles other- wise insurmountable.

Until within these few days I hoped to have had the satis- faction to report the return of the expedition without accident to any individual composing it, but such is the ferocious trea- chery of the natives along the coast to the northward, that our utmost circumspection could not save us from having one man (William Blake) severely wounded by them, but by the

SETTLEMENTS. IN NEW HOLLAND. 123

few of the richest cultivators, from the exorbi- tant price of cattle. At that period, however, the government herds had so considerably multi- plied, that the then governor (King) recom-

skilful care bestowed upon him by Dr. Harris (who accom- panied the expedition as a volunteer, and to whom, upon this occasion, and throughout the whole course of it, we are indebted for much valuable assistance,) I trust his recovery is no longer doubtful.

The general merit of Mr. Evans is so well known to your Excellency, that it will here be sufficient to observe, that by his zealous attention to every point that could facilitate the progress of the expedition, he has endeavoured to deserve a continuance of your Excellency's approbation.

Mr. Charles Frazer, the Colonial Botanist, has added near seven hundred new specimens to the already extended cata- logue of Australasian plants, besides many seeds, &c. and in the collection and preservation he has indefatigably endea- voured to obtain your Excellency's approval of his services.

I confidently hope that the journal of the expedition will amply evince to your Excellency the exemplary and praise- worthy conduct of the men employed on it ; and I feel the sincerest pleasure in earnestly soliciting for them your Excel- lency's favourable consideration.

Respectfully hoping, that, on a perusal and inspection of the journals and charts of the expedition, the course I have pursued in the execution of your Excellency's instruc- tions, will be honoured by your approbation,

I beg leave to subscribe myself, with the greatest respect, Sir, your Excellency's most obedient and humble servant, (Signed) J. OXLEY, Surveyor-General.

To his Excellency Governor Macquarie,

ffC. (SfC. t(C.

121 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

mended the adoption of the plough-husbandry in general orders, and tendered oxen at ,£28 per head, to be paid either in produce or money, at the end of three years, to all such settlers as were inclined to purchase them. This custom has been followed by all his successors; but, as no abatement has been made in the price of them, and as they can be obtained at one-third the amount else where, such only of the colonists now avail themselves of this indulgence, as have no ready means of purchase, and are allured by the length of the credit.

Wheat, maize, barley, oats, and rye, are all grown in this colony ; but the two former are most cultivated. The climate appears to be rather too warm for the common species of barley and oats ; but the poorer soils produce them of a tolerably good quality. The skinless barley, or as it is termed by some, the Siberian wheat, arrives at very great perfection, and is in every respect much superior to the common species of barley ; but the culture of this grain is limited to the demand which is created for it by the colonial breweries ; the Indian corn, or maize, being much better adapted for the food of horses, oxen, pigs, and poultry. The produce too is much more abundant than that of barley and oats ; and the season for planting it being two months later than for any other sort of

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 125

grain, the settler has every motive for giving it the preference. Wheat may be sown any time from February to July, and even as late as August, if that month happen to be moist ; but the best months are April, May, and June. The creeping wheat, however, may be sown in the commencement of February ; as, should it be- come too rank, it can easily be kept down by sheep, which are found to do this sort of wheat no manner of injury. To the farmer, therefore, who keeps large flocks of sheep, the cultivation of the creeping wheat is highly advantageous ; since, in addition to its yielding as great a crop as any other species of wheat, it supersedes the necessity of growing turnips or other artificial food for the support of his stock during the severity of the winter, when the natural grasses become scanty and parched up by the frost. The red and white lammas, and the Cape or bearded wheat, are the species generally culti- vated. June is the best month for sowing- barley and oats, but they may be sown till the middle of August with a fair prospect of a good crop, Indian corn or maize may be planted from the end of September to the middle of December ; but October is the best month. It is, however, a very common practice among the settlers on the fertile banks of the Hawkesbury and Nepean, to plant what is called stubble corn ; that is, to plant it among the wheat,

126 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF TIIF.

barley, and oat stubbles, as soon as the harvest is over, without ploughing or breaking up the ground. Maize is frequently planted in this way until the middle of January y€ind, if the season should prove sufficiently moist, yields a very abundant crop. The usual manner of planting it is in holes about six feet apart : five grains are generally put in each of these holes. The ave- rage produce of this grain, on rich flooded lands, is from eighty to a hundred bushels per acre. Wheat in the same situations yields from thirty to forty bushels ; and barley and oats, about fifty bushels an acre. On forest lands, however, the crops are not so productive, unless the ground be well manured ; but the wheat, barley and oats, grown on this land, are much heavier and superior in quality. The difference of weight in wheat grown on forest and flooded lands is upon an average not less than 8 Ibs. per bushel, the former sort weighing 64 Ibs and the latter only 66 Ibs.

The wheat harvest commences partially about the middle of November, and is generally over by Christmas. The maize, however, is not ripe until the end of. March, and the gathering is not complete throughout the colony before the middle of May.

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 127

HORTICULTURE, &c.

Potatoes*, cabbages, carrots, parsnips, turnips, pease, beans, cauliflowers, brocoli, asparagus, lettuces, onions, and in fact all the species of vegetables known in England, are produced in this colony ; many of them attain a much supe- rior degree of perfection,, but a few also de- generate. To the former class belong the cauliflower and brocoli, and the different varie- ties of the pea ; to the latter the bean and potatoe. For the bean, in particular, the cli- mate appears too hot, and it is only to be obtained in the stiffest clays and the dampest situations. The potatoe, however, is produced on all soils in the greatest abundance, but the quality is not nearly as good as in this country. In this respect, however, much depends on the nature of the soil. In stiff clays the potatoes are invariably watery and waxy, but in light sands and loams, they are tolerably dry and mealy. Manure also deteriorates their quality, and in general they are best when grown on new lands. Potatoes are in consequence very com- monly planted in the fields, as a first crop, and are found to pulverize land just brought from a state of nature into cultivation more than any

* For the Colonial Garden, see Appendix.

128 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

other root. An abundant crop of wheat, bar- ley, or oats, may be safely calculated to succeed them ; more particularly if a light covering of manure be applied at the time of their planting.

The colony is justly famed for the goodness and variety of its fruits : Peaches, apricots, nectarines, oranges, lemons, citrons, loquets, guavas, cherries, Cape, China, and English mul- berries., walnuts, Spanish chesnuts, almonds, medlars, quinces, grapes, pears, plums, figs, pomegranates, raspberries, strawberries, and melons of all sorts, attain the highest degree of maturity in the open air ; and even the pine- apple may be produced merely by the aid of the common forcing glass. The climate, however, of Port Jackson, is not altogether congenial to the growth of the apple, currant and goose- berry ; although the whole of these fruits are produced there, and the apple, in particular, in very great abundance ; but it is decidedly inferior in quality to the apple of this country. These fruits, however, arrive at the greatest perfection in every part of Van Diemen's Land ; and, as the climate of the country to the west- ward of the Blue Mountains is equally cold, they will without doubt attain there an equal degree of perfection ; but the short period which has elapsed since the establishment of a

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 129

settlement beyond these mountains, has not allowed the ultramontanians to make the expe- riment.

Of ail the fruits, which I have thus enume- rated as being produced in this colony, the peach is the most abundant and the most useful. The different varieties, which have been already in- troduced, succeed one another in uninterrupted succession from the middle of November to the latter end of March : thus filling up an interval of more than four months, and affording a wholesome and nutritious article of food during one-third of the year. This fruit grows sponta- neously in every situation, on the richest soils, as on "the most barren ; and its growth is so rapid that if you plant a stone, it will in three years afterwards bear an abundant crop of fruit. Peaches are, in consequence, so plentiful throughout the colony, that they are every- where given as food to hogs; and, when thrown into heaps, and allowed to undergo a proper degree of fermentation, are found to fatten them very rapidly. Cider also is made in great quantities from this fruit, and, when of sufficient age, affords a very pleasant and wholesome beverage. The lees, too, after the extraction of the juice, possess the same fattening properties, and are equally calculated for the food of hogs.

130 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

REARING OF CATTLE, &c.

The system of rearing and fattening stock in this colony is simple and economical. Horses, in consequence of their rambling nature, are almost invariably kept in inclosures. In the dis- tricts immediately contiguous to Port Jackson, horned cattle are followed by a herdsman during the day, in order to prevent them from trespass- ing on the numerous uninclosed tracts of land that are in a state of tillage, and are confined during the night in yards or paddocks. In the remoter districts, however, which are altogether devoid of cultivation, horned cattle are sub- jected to no such restraints, but are permitted to range about the country at all times. The herds too are generally larger ; and although a herdsman is still required, as well to prevent them from separating into straggling parties, as to protect them from depredation, the expense of keeping them in this manner is comparatively trifling and the advantages of allowing them this uncontrolled liberty to range very great ; since they are found during the heat of sum- mer to feed more by night than by day. This, therefore, is the system which the great stockholders almost invariably pursue. Few of them possess sufficient land for the support of their cattle ; and as their estates too, however remote the situation in which they may have

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 131

been selected, have for the most part become surrounded by small cultivators, who seldom or never inclose their crops, they generally recede with their herds from the approach of coloniza- tion, and form new establishments, -where the liability to trespass does not exist. They thus become the gradual explorers of the country, and it is to their efforts to avoid the contact of agriculture, that the discovery of the best districts yet known in the colony is ascribable.

The management of sheep is in some respects different. They are never permitted to roam during the night, on account of the native dog, which is a great enemy to them, and sometimes during the day, makes great ravages among them, even under the eye of the shepherd. In every part of the country, therefore, they are kept by night either in folds or yards. In the former case the shepherd sleeps in a small moveable box, which is shifted with the folds, and, with his faithful dog, affords a sufficient protection to his flock against the attempts of these midnight depredators. In the latter the paling of the yards is always made so high, that the native dog cannot surmount it ; and the safety of the flock is still further insured by the contiguity of the shepherd's house, and the numerous dogs with which he is always pro- vided.

K 2

J32 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

The natural grasses of the colony are suffi- ciently good and nutritious at all seasons of the year, for the support of every description of stock, where there is an adequate tract of coun- try for them to range over. But, in conse- quence of the complete occupation of the dis- tricts, which are in the more immediate vicinity of Port Jackson, and from the settlers in general possessing more stock, than their lands are capable of maintaining, the raising of artificial food for the winter months has of late years become very general among such of them as are unwilling to send their flocks and herds into the uninhabited parts in the interior. This is a practice which must necessarily gain ground ; since it has been observed, that the coldness of the climate keeps pace with the progress of agriculture. In the more contiguous and culti- vated districts, the natural grass becomes every year more affected by the influence of the frost, and, consequently, the necessity of raising some artificial substitute for the support of stock, dur- ing the suspension of vegetation, more pressing and incumbent. It is from this increase in the severity of the winters, that the custom of mak- ing hay has begun to be adopted ; and, should the future augmentation of cold be, as there is every reason to believe it will be proportionate to the past, this custom, before the expiration of many years, will become generally prevalent. It

SETTLEMENT! IN NEW HOLLAND. 133

is indeed, rather a matter of surprise than otherwise, that so salutary a precaution has been so long in disuse; since such is the luxu- riance of the natural grass during the summer, that it is the general practice, after the seeds wither away, to set fire to it, and thus improvi- dently consume what, if mown and made into hay, would afford the farmer a sufficiency of nutritious food for his stock during the winter, and altogether supersede the subsequent neces- sity for his having recourse to artificial means of remedying so palpable a neglect of the boun- teous gifts of nature.

This custom of setting fire to the grass is most prevalent during the months of August and January, i.e. just before the commencement of spring and autumn, when vegetation is on the eve of starting from the slumber, which it expe- riences alike, during the extremes of the winter's cold, as of the summer's heat. If a fall of rain happily succeed these fires, the country soon presents the appearance of a field of young wheat ; and, however repugnant this practice may appear to the English farmer, it is abso- lutely unavoidable in those districts which are not sufficiently stocked ; since cattle of every description refuse to taste the grass the moment it becomes withered.

134 STATISTICAL ACCOU5T OF THE

The artificial food principally cultivated in the colony are turnips, tares, and Cape barley ; and for those settlers in particular, who have flocks of breeding sheep, the cultivation of them is highly necessary, and contributes materially to the growth and strength of their lambs. On those also who keep dairies, this practice of raising artificial food, is equally incumbent ; the natu- ral grasses being quite insufficient to keep milch cows in good heart during the winter, when there is the greatest demand for butter. Good meat, too, is then only to be had with difficulty, and this difficulty is increasing every year. There cannot, therefore, be any doubt that it would answer the purposes even of the grazier to have recourse to artificial means of fattening his stock at that season ; since it is then that he would be enabled to obtain the readiest and highest price for his fat cattle.

PRICE OF CATTLE, &c.

The price of all manner of stock is almost incredibly moderate, considering the short pe- riod, which has elapsed since the foundation of the colony. A very good horse for the cart or plough may be had from *£10 to £15, and

* The price of horses has increased at least 50 per cent, during the last two years. Large exportation of them have

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 135

a better saddle or gig horse, from £20 to £30, than could be obtained in this country for double the money. Very good milch cows may be bought from £8 to £10; working oxen for about the same price ; and fine young breeding ewes from £1 to £3, according to the quality of their fleeces. Low as these prices may appear, they are in a great measure fictitious ; since there is confessedly more stock of all sorts in the colony, than is necessary for its population. It accordingly often happens, particularly at sales by public auction, that stock are to be bought at a much cheaper rate ; and there is every probability that, before the expira- tion of ten years, their value will be still more considerably diminished. To be convinc- ed of the truth of this conjecture, we have only to look back a little into the annals of the colony, and see how prodigiously cattle of every description have multiplied. By a census taken at the end of the year J800, (twelve years after the institution of the colony) the number of horses and mares was only 163 ; of horned cattle, 1024 ; and of sheep, 6] 24. At the end of 1813, the horses and mares had increased to 1891 ; the horned cattle to 21,513,

been made to Batavia and the East Indies, and they have been found to bear the climates of those countries so well that doubtless great numbers, of them will be in future annually shipped for those markets.

136 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

and the sheep, to 65,121 ; and in the month of November, 1817, the last* year of which we have received the census, the numbers were as follow : horses and mares, 3072 ; horned cattle, 44,753 ; sheep, 170,420. Thus it will be per- ceived, that in the space of seventeen years, the stock of horses and mares has increased from 63, their highest number for the first twelve years, to 3072; the stock of horned cattle, from 1044 to 44,753 ; and the stock of sheep from 6124 to 170,920. This is of itself an increase great beyond all ordinary computa- tation ; and it would appear still more surprising if we could add to it the immense numbers of cattle and sheep that have been slaughtered in the same period, for the supply of the king's stores, and for general consumption.

From the foregoing statement it will be evident, that the future increase in the stock will be still more prodigious, and still more con- siderably outstrip the advance of population. The price therefore of cattle, great and rapid as has been its past declension, must annually experience a still further diminution. Of what will be their probable value in ten years more, it may enable us to form no very inaccurate esti-

* The census of 1818, has lately arrived, and is given in the

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 137

mate, by referring to what it was ten years back. In 1808, a cow and calf were sold by public auction for ,£105, and the price of mid- dling cattle was from <£40 to ,£60. A breeding mare was at the same period worth from 150 to 200 guineas, and ewes from £2 to £4.

PRICE OF LABOUR.

The price of labour is at present very low, and is still further declining, in consequence of the demand for it not equalling the supply. Upon the establishment of the Colonial Bank, and the consequent suppression of that vile medium of circulation, termed the colonial currency, between which and British sterling there used to be a difference of value of from £50 to £100 per cent, the price of labour was fixed at the rates contained in the following general order, dated the 7th of December, 1816:

" In consequence of the recent abolition of all colonial currency, and the introduction and establishment of a sterling circulation and consi- deration in all payments, dealings, transactions, contracts, and agreements, within this territory and its dependencies, his Excellency the Gover- nor having deemed it expedient to take into consideration the general rates and prices of labour and wages within the same, as affected

138 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

by the alteration of the mode of payments at a sterling rate, or value, and of the degree, mea- sure, and sterling amount of the same, upon a fair and equitable proportion and modus ; and having also adopted such measures in that respect as seemed best calculated to fix and make known the same, is pleased hereby to declare, order, and direct, that, in addition to the rations according to and equal with the government allowance, the sum of ten pounds sterling per annum to a woman convict, as including the value of the slops allowed, and the sum of seven pounds or five pounds ten shillings exclusive of such slops, computed at three pounds per man, and one pound ten shillings per woman, shall be allowed, claimed, or demandable, or such part or proportion of such sum or sums as shall be equal and accor- ding to the period and continuance of actual service, and no more in respect of yearly wages, and in the same manner as yearly wages for the extra work and service of any such male or female convict respectively, duly assigned to any person or persons, by or upon the autho- rity of Government.

" His excellency is also pleased further to declare, order and direct, that in consideration of the premises, the undermentioned sums, amounts, and charges, and no more with regard

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 139

to and upon the various denominations of work, labour and services, described and set forth, shall be allowed, claimed, or demandable within this territory and its dependencies in respect thereof.

. • -Jrlij ,' •;•'>.-

£ *. d.

For falling forest timber, per acre, - 080

Burning off ditto, per ditto, '- '; 100

Rooting out, and burning stumps on forest

ground, per ditto, I!i» - 1 10 0

Falling timber on brush ground, per ditto, 0 12 0 Burning off ditto, per ditto, 1 10 0

Rooting out and burning stumps on ditto,

per ditto, 1 17 6

Breaking up new ground, per ditto, - 100 Breaking up stubble in corn ground, per

ditto, ;''-' ' - «

Chipping in wheat, per ditto, 4: -"' Reaping ditto, per ditto, Threshing and cleaning wheat, per bushel, Holeing and planting corn, per acre, Chipping and shelling corn, per ditto, Pulling and husking ditto, per bushel, Splitting pales, (six feet long per hundred, Ditto, (five feet long) per ditto, Shingle splitting, per thousand, Preparing and putting up morticed railr ing, five bars, with two pannels to a rod, and posts sunk two feet in the ground, - 030

Ditto, ditto, ditto, four bars, 026

Ditto, ditto, ditto, three bars, 020

Ditto, ditto, ditto, two bars, - 019'

140 »TATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

The rates limited in this order are pretty well proportioned to the present state of the colony ; but the attempt to reduce the value of labour to a permanent standard, further than regards the convicts, must evidently be abortive; since labour, like merchandize, will rise and fall with the demand which may exist for it in the market where it is disposable ; — and although the above order might prevent the labourer from recovering in the colonial courts a greater price for his labour than is stipulated in the fore- going schedule, still, the moment it becomes the interest of the employer to give higher wages, he will do so, and the discredit attached to the non-performance of a deliberate contract will always prevent him from having recourse to the courts for avoiding the fulfilment of it. The above rates, it will be seen, only refer to task work, in the various species of labour imme- diately attached to agriculture. Free husband- men are paid from ,£20 to £30 a year, and fre- quently more according to their qualifications. Free women receive from <£10 to £15 a year as household servants. The wages of artificers, particularly of such as are most useful in infant societies, are considerably higher ; — a circum- stance, which is principally to be attributed to the practice of selecting from among the con- victs all the best mechanics for the government works. Carpenters, stone-masons, bricklayer*,

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 141

wheel and plough-wrights, black-smiths, coo- pers, harness-makers, sawyers, shoe-makers, cabinet-makers ; and in fact all the most useful descriptions of handicrafts are consequently in very great demand, and can easily earn from eight to ten shillings per day.

PRICE OF LAND, PROVISIONS, &o.

The price of land is entirely regulated by its situation and quality. So long as five years back, a hundred and fifty acres of very indiffer- ent ground, about three quarters of a mile from Sydney, were sold by virtue of an execution, in lots of twelve acres each, and averaged £'14 per acre. This, however, is the highest price that has yet been given for land not situated in a town. The general value of unimproved forest land, when it is not heightened by some advantageous locality, as proximity to a town or navigable river, cannot be estimated at more than ten shillings per acre. Flooded land will fetch double that sum. But on the banks of the Hawkesbury, as far as that river is navi- gable, the value of land is considerably greater ; that, which is in a state of nature, being worth from £3 to £5 per acre, and that, which is in a state of cultivation, from £8 to £10. The latter description rents from thirty to sixty shillings per acre.

142 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

The price of provisions, particularly of agri- cultural produce, is subject to great fluctuations, and will unavoidably continue so, until proper measures are taken to counteract the calamitous scarcities at present consequent on the inunda- tions of the Hawkesbury and Nepean. In the year 1806, the epoch of the great flood, the old and new stacks on the banks of those rivers were all swept away ; and before the commence- ment of the following harvest, wheat and maize attained an equal value, and were sold at £5 and .£6 per bushel. Even after the last overflow of these rivers, in the month of March, 1817, wheat rose towards the close of the year, to 31s. per bushel, and maize to 20s. and potatoes to 31s. 6d. per cwt. although a very considerable supply (about 20,000 bushels) was immediately fur- nished by the Derwent and Port Dalrymple. But for this speedy and salutary succour, the price of grain would have been very little short of what it was in the year 1806 ; since the whole stock on hand appears, from the muster taken between the 6th of October and the 25th of November, to have only been as follows : wheat, 2405 bushels ; maize, 1506. This was all the grain that remained in the various settle- ments of New South Wales and its dependen- cies, about a month before any part of the pro- duce of the harvest could be brought to market ; and when it is considered that this was to ad- minister to the support of 20,379 souls during

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 143

that period, it will appear truly astonishing that the prices continued so moderate.

By way, however, of counterpoise to these lamentable scarcities, which in general follow the inundations of the principal agricultural settlements, provisions are very abundant and cheap in years when the crops have not suffered from flood or drought. In such seasons, wheat upon an average sells for 9s. per bushel ; maize for 3s. 6d. ; barley for 5s. ; oats for 4s. 6d. and potatoes for 6s. per cwt.

The price of meat is not influenced by the same causes, but is on the contrary experiencing a gradual and certain diminution. By the last* accounts received from the colony, good mutton and beef were to be had for 6d. per pound, veal for 8d. and pork for 9d. Wheat was selling in the market at 8s. 8d. per bushel; oats at 4s. ; barley at 5s. ; maize at 5s. 6d. ; potatoes at 8s. per cwt. ; fowls at 4s. 6d. per couple ; ducks at 6s. per ditto ; geese at 5s. each ; tur- kies at 7s. 6d. each ; eggs at 2s. 6d. per dozen ; and butter at 2s. 6d. per pound. The price of the best wheaten bread was fixed by the assize at 5^.d. for the loaf, weighing 2 Ibs.

* This was in the year 1817, but it does not appear that any great variation has taken place in the price of provisions since jhat period.

144 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

MANUFACTURES.

The progress which this colony has made in manufactures has, perhaps, never been equalled by any community of such recent origin. It already contains extensive manufactories of coarse woollen cloths, hats, earthenware and pipes, salt, candles, and soap. There are also extensive breweries and tanneries, wheel and plough-wrights, gig- makers, black-smiths, nail- makers, tinmen, rope-makers, saddle and har- ness-makers, cabinet-makers, and indeed all sorts of mechanics and artificers that could be required in an infant society, where objects of utility are naturally in greater demand than articles of luxury. Many of these have consi- derable capitals embarked in their several de- partments, and manufacture to a great ex- tent. Of the precise amount, however, of capital invested in the whole of the colonial manufactories, I can give no authentic account ; but I should imagine it cannot be far short of £50,000.

COMMERCE, INCOME, DUTIES, &c.

The colonists carry on a considerable com- merce with this country, the East Indies, and China; but they have scarcely any article of export to offer in return for the various commo- dities supplied by those countries. The money

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 145

expended by the government for the support of the convicts, and the pay and subsistence of the civil and military establishments, are the main sources from which they derive the means of procuring1 those articles of foreign growth and manufacture, that are indispensable to civilized life. They have, however, at last a staple ex- port, which is rapidly increasing, and promises in a few years to suffice for all their wants, and to render them quite independent of the miser- able pittance, which is thus afforded them by the expenditure of the government : I mean the fleeces of their flocks, the best of which are found to combine all the qualities, that constitute the excellence of the Saxon and Spanish wools. The sheep-holders in general have at length become sensible of the advantage of directing their attention to the improvement of their flocks : and, if their exertions be properly seconded by the countenance and encourage- ment of the local government, there can be no doubt that the supply of fine wool, which the parent country will before long receive from the colony, will amply repay her for the care and expense she has bestowed on it during the pro- tracted period of its helpless infancy. The ex- portation of this highly valuable raw material is as yet but very limited : last year it only amounted to about £10,000 ; but when it is con- sidered that in the year 1818, there were 201,240

146 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THF.

sheep in the colony and its dependent settle- ments in Van Diemen's Land, and that the majority of the sheep-holders are actively em- ployed in crossing their flocks with tups of the best Merino breed, it may easily be conceived what an extensive exportation of fine wool may be effected in a few years.

The whole annual income of the colonists inhabiting the various settlements in New Hol- land, cannot be estimated at more than ,£157,000, and the following sub-divisions of it may be taken as a very close approximation to the truth :

. Money expended by the government

for the pay and subsistence of the civil

and military establishments, and for

the support of such of the convicts as

are victualled from the lung's stores, 80,000 0 0 Money expended by shipping not be-

longing to the colonial merchants, 6,000 0 0

Money annually brought to the colony

by emigrants and convicts 30,000 0 0

Various articles of export collected from

the adjacent seas and islands, by the

colonial craft, consisting principally of

seal skins, right whale, elephant oils,

and sandal wood, 15,000 0 0

Flour, meat, horses, &c. exported to

the Cape of Good Hope, the Isle of

France, Batavia and India, - 10,000 0 0

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 147

£ s. d.

Wool grown in the colony, 10,000 0 0

Sundries, not included in the above, 6,000 0 0

Total - £157,000 0 0

The imposts levied by the authority of the local government form two distinct funds, one of which, as has been already casually men- tioned, is called the " Orphan Fund," and the other " the Police Fund." The former, it has been seen, contains one-eighth of the colonial revenue, and is devoted solely to the promotion of education among the youth of the colony ; the latter contains the other seven-eighths, and is appropriated to various purposes of internal economy ; such as the construction and repair of roads and bridges, the erection of public edifices, the maintenance of the police, the cost of criminal prosecutions, and the pay of various officers, principally in subordinate capa- cities, who are not borne on the parliamentary estimate of the civil establishment. These two funds amounted in the year 1817 to the sum of £20,272 6s. 2^d. which was derived from the following sources :

£ s. d. *Duties collected by the naval officer, 17,240 0 7

* For a List of these Duties, se« the Appendix. L, 2

148 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

£ s. d.

Market, toll, and slaughtering duties, 872 5 7£

67 Spirit Licences, 2,010 0 0

JO Beer ditto, 50 0 0

4 Brewing ditto, -| |« - 100 0 0

Total - £20,272 6

If we add to this £907 6s. 9|d. which is the amount of the naval officer's commission on the duties collected by him, we have a grand total of £21,179 12s. ll|d.; or, in other words, about one sixth of the whole income of the colony, absorbed by an illegal taxation. This is an enormous sum to be levied in such an infant community ; and it will appear the more so, if it be recollected that nineteen-twentieths of it are collected from the duty, which has been imposed on spirituous liquors, and from licences to keep public- houses for the retail of them.

STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.

Van Diemen's Land is situated between 40° 42', and 43° 43' of South latitude, and between 145° 31 and 148° 22 of East longitude. The honour of the discovery of this island also

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEN's LAND. 149

belongs to the Dutch ; but the survey of it has been effected principally by the English.

The aborigines of this country are, if possible, still more barbarous and uncivilized than those of New Holland. They subsist entirely by hunting, and have no knowledge whatever of the art of fishing. Even the rude bark canoe, which their neighbours possess, is quite un- known to them ; and whenever they want to pass any sheet of water, they are compelled to construct a wretched raft for the occasion. Their arms arid hunting implements also indi- cate an inferior degree of civilization. The womera, or throwing stick, which enables the natives of Port Jackson to cast their spears with such amazing force and precision, is not used by them. Their spears, too, instead of being made with the bulrush, and only pointed with hard wood, are composed entirely of it, and are con- sequently more ponderous. In using them they grasp the centre : but they neither throw them so far, nor so dexterously as the natives of the parent colony. This circumstance is the more fortunate, as they maintain the most rancorous and inflexible hatred and hostility towards the colonists. This deep-rooted enmity, however, does not arise so much from the ferocious nature of these savages, as from the inconsiderate and unpardonable conduct of our countrymen shortly

150 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

after the foundation of the settlement on the river Derwent. At first the natives evinced the most friendly disposition towards the new-comers ; and would probably have been actuated by the same amicable feeling to this day, had not the military officer intrusted with the command, directed a discharge of grape and canister shot to be made among a large body, who were ap- proaching, as he imagined, with hostile designs j but, as it has since been believed with much greater probability, merely from motives of curiosity and friendship. The havoc occasioned among them by this murderous discharge, was dreadful ; and since then all communication- with them has ceased, and the spirit of animosity and revenge, which this unmerited and atro- cious act of barbarity engendered, has been fostered and aggravated to the highest pitch by the incessant rencontres that have subsequently taken place between them and the setllers. These, whenever an occasion offers, destroy as many of them as possible, and they in their turn never let slip an opportunity of retaliating on their blood-thirsty neighbours. Fortunately, however, for the colonists, they have seldom or never been known to act on the offensive, except when they have met some of their perse- cutors singly. Two persons armed with mus- kets may traverse the island from one end to the other in the most perfect safety.

SETTLEMENTS IN VAX DIEMEN's LAND. 151

Van Diemen's Land has not so discouraging and repulsive an appearance from the coast as New Holland. Many fine tracts of land are found on the very borders of the sea, and the interior is almost invariably possessed of a soil admirably adapted to all the purposes of civi- lized man. This island is upon the whole moun- tainous, and consequently abounds in streams. On the summits of many of the mountains there are large lakes, some of which are the sources of considerable rivers. Of these the Derwent, Huon, and Tamar, rank in the first class.

There is, perhaps, no island in the world of the same size, which can boast of so many fine harbours. The best are the Derwent, Port Davy, Macquarie Harbour, Port Dalrymple, and Oyster Bay : the first is on its southern side, the second and third on its western, the fourth on its northern, and the fifth on its eastern ; so that it has excellent harbours in every direction. This circumstance cannot fail to be productive of the most beneficial effects, and will most* materially assist the future march of colonization.

There is almost a perfect resemblance between the animal and vegetable kingdoms of this island and of New Holland. In their animal kingdoms

162 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

in particular, there is scarcely any variation. The native dog, indeed, is unknown here ; but there is an animal of the panther tribe in its stead, which, though not found in such numbers as the native dog is in New Holland, commits dreadful havoc among the flocks. It is true that its ravages are not so frequent ; but, when they happen, they tire more extensive. This animal is of considerable size, and has been known, in some few instances, to measure six feet and a half from the tip of the nose to the extremity of the tail ; still it is cowardly, and by no means formidable to man : unless, indeed, when taken by surprise, it invariably flies his approach.

In the feathered tribes of the two islands, there is scarcely any diversity ; of this the wattle bird, which is about the size of a snipe, and considered a very great delicacy, is the only instance I can cite.

Like New Holland it has many varieties of poisonous reptiles, but they are' neither so venomous, nor so numerous as in that island.

Its rivers and seas too, abound with the same species of fish. Oysters are found in much greater perfection, though not in greater abun-

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEN's LAND. 153

dance. The rocks, that border the coasts and harbours are literally covered with muscles, as the rocks at Port Jackson are with oysters.

There is not so perfect a resemblance in the vegetable kingdoms of the two islands ; but still the dissimilarity, where it exists, is chiefly con- fined to their minor productions. In the trees of the forest there is scarcely any difference. Van Diemen's Land wants the cedar, maho- gany, and rose wood ; but it has very good substitutes for them in the black wood and Huon pine, which is a species of the yew tree, and remarkable for its strong odoriferous scent and extreme durability.

The principal mineralogical productions of this island are, iron, copper, alum, coals, slate, limestone, asbestus, and basaltes ; all of which, with the exception of copper, are to be had in the greatest abundance.

HOBART TOWN.

Hobart Town, which is the seat of the Lieute- nant Governor of Van Diemen's Land, stands nine miles up the river Derwent. It was founded only fifteen years since ; and indeed the rudeness of its appearance sufficiently indicates

164 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

the recency of its origin. The houses are in general of the meanest description, seldom exceeding one story in height, and being for the most part weather-boarded without, and lathed and plastered within. Even the government house is of very bad construction. The resi- dences, indeed, of many individuals far surpass it. The population may be estimated at about one thousand souls.

This town is built principally on two hills > between which there is a fine stream of excellent water, that issues from the Table Mountain, and falls into Sullivan's Cove. On this stream a flour mill has been erected, and there is sufficient fall in it for the erection of two or three more. There are also, within a short distance of the town, several other streams, which originate in the same mountain, and are equally well adapted to similar purposes. This is an advantage not possessed by the inhabitants of Port Jackson ; since there is not, in any of the cultivated districts to the eastward of the Blue Mountains, a single run of water, which can be pronounced in every respect eligible for the erection of mills. Wind- mills are in consequence almost exclusively used for grinding corn in Sydney ; but, in the inland towns and districts, the colonists are in a great measure obliged to have recourse to hand-

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DlEMEH's LAND. 155

mills ; as the winds, during the greater part of the year, are not of sufficient force to penetrate the forest and set mills in motion.

The elevation of the Table Mountain, which is so called from the great resemblance it bears to the mountain of the same name at the Cape of Good Hope, has not been determined : but it is generally estimated at about six thousand feet above the level of the sea. During three-fourths of the year it is covered with snow, and the- same violent gusts of wind blow from it as from this, its mountain name-sake; but no gathering clouds on its summit give notice of the ap- proaching storm. The fiery appearance, how- ever, of the heavens affords a sufficient warning to the inhabitants of the country. These blasts are happily confined to the precincts of the mountain, and seldom last above three hours ; but nothing can exceed their violence for the time. In the year 1810, I happened to be on board of a vessel, which was bound to Hobart Town : in consequence of the winds proving scanty, we were obliged to anchor during the night in D'Entrecasteaux's channel. The fol- lowing morning we got under weigh, expecting that the sea breeze would set in by the time the anchor was hove up. The seamen had no sooner effected this and made all sail, than we were over- taken with one of these mountain hurricanes.

156

In an instant the vessel was on her beam ends, and in another, had not all the sheets and hal- yards been let go, she would either have upset, or carried away her masts. The moment the sails were clued up we brought to again ; and as we were in a harbour perfectly land-locked and very narrow, the vessel easily rode out this blast. It only lasted about two hours; but the sea breeze did not succeed it that day. The next morning, however, it set in as usual.

During the continuance of this mountain tornado, the waters of the harbour were ter- ribly agitated, and taken up in the same manner as dust is collected by what are called whirl winds in this country. So great indeed was its fury, that it required us to hold on by the ropes with all our force, in order to enable us to keep our footing.

STORM-BAY, RIVER DERWENT, &c.

The harbour at and conducting to the river Derwent, yields to none in the world ; perhaps surpasses every other. There are two entrances to this river, which are separated by Pitt's Island; one is termed D'Entrecasteaux's Channel, the other, Storm Bay. D'Entrecasteaux's Chan- nel, from Point Collins up to Hobart Town,

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEN's LAND. 157

a distance, following the course of the water, of thirty-seven miles, is one continued harbour, varying in breadth from eight to two miles, and in depth from thirty to four fathoms. The river Derwent itself has three fathoms of water for eleven miles above the town, and is conse- quently navigable thus far for vessels of the largest burthen. Reckoning, therefore, from Point Collins, there is a line of harbour, in D'Entrecasteaux's Channel, and the Derwent, together, of forty-eight miles, completely land- locked, and affording the best anchorage the whole way.

The entrance, however, by Storm Bay, does not offer the same advantages ; for it is twenty- two miles broad from Maria's Island to Penguin Island, and completely exposed to the winds from south to south-east. This bay conse- quently does not afford the same excellent anchorage as D'Entrecasteaux's Channel. It contains, however, some few nooks, in which vessels may take shelter in case of necessity. The best of these is Adventure Bay, which is shut in from any winds, that can blow directly from the ocean, but is nevertheless exposed to the north-east winds, which have a reach of twenty miles from the opposite side of the bay. There is, consequently, when these winds pre- vail, a cosiderable swell here ; but the force of

158 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

the sea is in a great measure broken by Penguin Island; and vessels possessing good anchors and cables have nothing to fear.

Storm Bay, besides thus forming one of the entrances to the river Derwent, leads to another very good harbour, called North Bay. This harbour is about sixteen miles long, and in some places six miles and a half broad. The greater part of it is perfectly land-locked, and affords excellent anchorage in from two to fifteen fathoms water. That part in particular called Norfolk Bay forms a very spacious harbour of itself, being about three miles in breadth and nine in length. This bay, besides being better sheltered than the rest of the harbour, contains the greatest depth of water, having in no place less than four fathoms.

WHALE FISHERY.

All the bays and harbours, which have been just described, abound with right whale at a particular season of the year. These leviathans of the deep quit the boisterous ocean, and seek the more tranquil waters of these harbours, when they are on the point of calving. This happens in November, and they remain there with their young between two and three months. During this period there are generally every

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEN?8 LAND. 159

year a few of the colonial craft employed in the whale fishery ; but the duties, which are levied in this country on all oils procured in vessels not having a British register, amount to a prohibi- tion, and completely prevent the colonists from prosecuting this fishery further than is necessary for their own consumption, and for the supply of the East India market. Between two and three hundred tons annually suffice for both these purposes.

The whales frequently go up the river Der- went as far as the town ; and it is no uncommon sight for its inhabitants to behold the whole method of taking them, from the moment they are harpooned, until they are finally killed by the frequent application of the lance. This sight indeed has been occasionally witnessed by the inhabitants of Sydney ; since i t has some- times occurred, that a stray fish has entered the harbour of Port Jackson, while some of the South-sea-whalers have been lying there, and that these have lowered their boats and killed it.

All the bays and harbours in Van Diemen's Land, and most of those likewise which are in Bass's Straits, and on the southern coast of New Holland, abound with these fish at the same season. If the colonists, therefore, were not thus restricted from this fishery, it would

160 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

soon become an immense source of wealth to them : and I have no doubt that they would be enabled to export many hundred tons of oil an- nually to this country. But it is in vain that nature has been thus lavish of her bounties to them ; in vain do their seas and harbours invite them to embark in these inexhaustible channels of wealth and enterprize. Their government, — that government which ought to be the fore- most in developing their nascent efforts, and fostering them to maturity, is itself the first to check their growth and impede their advance- ment. What a miserly system of legislation is it which thus locks up from its own subjects a fund of riches, that might administer to the wants, and contribute to the happiness of thousands ! What barbarous tantalization to compel them to thirst in the midst of the waters of abun- dance !

PORT DALRYMPLE.

This port, which was discovered by Flinders, in 1798, lies thirty degrees E. S. E. of Three Hammock Island. The town of Launceston stands about thirty miles from its entrance, at the junction of the North Esk, and the South, with the river Tamar. It is little more than an inconsiderable village, the houses in general being of the humblest description. Its popula-

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEN's LAND. 161

tion is between three and four hundred souls. The tide reaches nine or ten miles up the river Esk, and the produce of the farms within that distance may be sent down to the town in boats. But the North Esk descends from a range of mountains by a cataract immediately into the river Tamar, and is consequently alto- gether inaccessible to navigation.

The Tamar has sufficient depth of water, as far as Launceston, for vessels of a hundred and fifty tons burthen ; but the navigation of this river is very intricate, by reason of the banks and shallows, with which it abounds, and it has been at length prudently resolved to remove the seat of government nearer the entrance of Port Dalrymple. A town, called George Town, has been for the last three years in a state of active preparation ; and it is probable that the commandant, and indeed the entire civil and mili- tary establishments* of this settlement, have by this time removed to it. In this case the greater part of the population of Launceston will soon follow. This desertion of its inhabitants will considerably diminish the value of landed pro- perty in that town, and consequently be pro- ductive of great loss to them ; but there can be no doubt that the change of the seat of govern -

* See Appendix. M

162 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

merit will in the event materially contribute to the prosperity of the settlement in general. This abandonment, therefore, or rather in- tended abandonment of the old town, has been dictated by the soundest principles of policy and justice: but although the equity of the maxim that the interests of the few should cede to the good of the many, is incontrovertible, it is nevertheless to be hoped, that some means will be contrived of indemnifying the inhabi- tants of Launceston for the great injury, which they will suffer from the removal of the seat of government to George Town.

Within a few miles of Launceston, there is the most amazing abundance of iron. Literally speaking, there are whole mountains of this ore, which is so remarkably rich, that it has been found to yield seventy per cent, of pure metal. These mines have not yet been worked ; the population, indeed, of the settlement would not allow it ; but there can be no doubt that they will at no very remote period become a source of considerable wealth to its inhabitants.

ROADS, &c.

There is a communication by land between Launceston and Hobart Town, which are about one hundred and thirty miles distant from each

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEN^S LAND. 163

other in a straight line, and about one hundred and sixty following the windings of the route at present frequented. No regular road has been constructed between these towns, but the numerous carts and droves of cattle and sheep, which are constantly passing from one to the other, have rendered the tract sufficiently distinct and plain. In fact the making of a road is a matter of very great ease, both here and in Port Jackson. The person, whoever he may be, that wants to establish a cart-road to any place, marks the trees in the direction he wishes it to take, and these marks serve as a guide to all such as require to travel on it. In a very short time the tracks of the horses and carts that have passed along it become visible, the grass is gradually trod down, and finally disappears, and thus a road is formed ; not, indeed, so good as one of the usual construction, but which answers all the purposes of those who have occasion to travel on it. Wherever there happens to be a stream, or river, that is not fordable, it is customary to cut down two or three trees in some spot on its banks, where it is seen that they will reach to the other side of it. Across these, the boughs that are lopped off themselves, or smaller trees felled for the purpose, are laid close together, and over all a sufficient covering of earth.

M 2

164 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

Of this description are all the roads and bridges in Van Diemen's Land, and many of those which are in Port Jackson ; but in this respect it will be recollected that the latter place is much in advance of the former. The reason, why the settlements on this island are so far behind the parent colony, is not to be traced so much to the greater recency of their origin, as to the circumstance of their inhabitants being for the most part established along the banks of navigable waters. At Port Dalrymple, the majority of the settlers have fixed themselves on the banks of the North Esk, within the navigable reach of that river. The Derwent too, it has been seen, is navigable for vessels of the largest burden for twenty miles from its entrance. A little higher up, indeed, there are falls in it, which interrupt its navigation; but it is hardly yet colonized beyond these falls, and whenever that shall be the case, it may be easily rendered navigable for boats by the help of a few short portages for a considerable distance further. Such of the agriculturists as have not settled on the banks of this river, have selected their farms in the district of Pitt Water, which extends along the northern side of that spacious harbour, called " North Bay." These have consequently the same facilities, as those on the banks of the Derwent, for sending their pro- duce to market by water, and they naturally

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIKMEN's LAND. 165

prefer the cheapest mode of conveyance. It may, therefore, be perceived that the superior advantages, which are thus presented by an inland navigation, are the main causes why the construction of regular roads has been so much neglected in these southern settlements ; and that so far is this want of roads from being an inconvenience to the inhabitants of them, that the facilities afforded by this inland navigation for the transport of all sorts of agricultural produce to market, is the principal point of superiority, which they can claim over their brethren at Port Jack- son.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

In the two settlements on this island, there is but one court of justice established by charter. This is termed the Lieutenant-Governor's Court, and consists of the deputy judge advo- cate, and two of the respectable inhabitants appointed from time to time by the lieutenant- governor. The jurisdiction of this court is purely civil, and only extends to pleas where the sum at issue does not exceed £'50 ; but no appeal lies from its decisions. All causes for a higher amount, and all criminal offences, beyond the cognizance of the bench of Magistrates, are removed, the former before the Supreme Court,

16G STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

and the latter before the Court of Criminal Judicature at Port Jackson.

STATE OF DEFENCE, BUSHRANGERS.

These settlements are in a very bad state of defence, having but two companies of troops for the garrison and protection of them both. They have consequently been infested for many years past, by a banditti of run -away convicts, who have endangered the person and property of every one, that has evinced himself hostile to their enormities. These wretches, who are known in the colony by the name of bush- rangers, even went so far as to write threaten- ing letters to the lieutenant-governor and the magistracy. In this horrible state of anarchy a simultaneous feeling of insecurity and dread, naturally pervaded the whole of the inhabitants ; and the most respectable part of the agricul- tural body with one accord betook themselves to the towns, as the only certain means of preserving their lives, gladly abandoning their property to prevent the much greater sacrifice, with which the defence of it would have been attended. There is no species of outrage and atrocity, in which these marauders did not indulge : murders, incendiaries, and robberies were their ordinary amusements, and have been, for many years past, the leading events in the

v

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEtt's LAND. 167

annals of these unfortunate settlements. Every measure, that could be devised, was taken for the capture and punishment of these wretches. They were repeatedly outlawed, and the most alluring rewards were set upon their heads ; but the insufficiency of the military force, the extent of the island, their superior local knowledge* and the abundance of game, which enabled them to find an easy subsistence, and rendered them independent, except for an occasional supply of ammunition, with which some un^ known persons were base enough to furnish them in exchange for their ill acquired booty; — all these circumstances conspired to baffle for many years every attempt, that was made for their apprehension. This long impunity served only to increase their cruelty and temerity ; and it was at last deemed expedient by Lieutenant Governor Davy to declare the whole island under the operation of martial law. This vi- gorous exertion of authority was zealously seconded by the respectable inhabitants, many of whom joined the military in the pursuit of these miscreants, and fortunately succeeded by their joint exertions in apprehending the most daring of their ring-leaders, who were instantly tried by a court martial and hanged in chains. This terrible, though necessary example, was followed by a proclamation offering a general amnesty to all the rest of these delinquents, who

168 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

should surrender themselves before a certain day ; excepting, however, such of them as had been guilty of murder. The proclamation had the desired effect : all who were not excluded by their crimes availed themselves of the par- don thus afforded them. But, strange to say, they were allowed to remain in the island ; and, whether they were enamoured of the licentious life they had been so long leading, or whether they distrusted the sincerity of the oblivion promised them, and became apprehensive of eventual punishment, in a few months after- wards they again betook themselves to the woods, and rejoined those, who had been ex- cluded from the amnesty. After this, they rivalled their former atrocities, and a general feeling of consternation was again excited among the well disposed part of the commu- nity. And here, as it may not be uninteresting to many of my readers to be acquainted with some of the specific outrages of these monsters, I subjoin the following extracts from the Syd- ney Gazette of the 26th Jan. 1817.

" The accounts of robberies by the banditti " of bush-rangers on Van Diemen's Land, u presents a melancholy picture of the dis- " tresses, to which the more respectable classes " of inhabitants are constantly exposed, from " the daring acts of those infamous marauders,

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEN's LAND. 169

*c who are divided into small parties, and are " designated by the name of the principal " ruffian at their head, of whom one Michael " Howe appears to be the most alert in depre- " dation. The accounts received by the Kan- " garoo, which commence from the beginning of " November, state that on the 7th of that month, te the house and premises of Mr. David Rose at u Port Dalrymple, were attacked and plun- 61 dered of a considerable property, by Peter " Sefton and his gang. The delinquents were u pursued by the commandant at the head of " a strong detachment of the 46th regiment ; " but returned after a five days hunt through " the woods, without being able to discover " the villains, among whom is stated to have " been a free man, named Dennis M'Caig, " who went from hence to Port Dalrymple in " the Brothers.

" On the night of the 17th of November, the " premises of Mr. Thomas Hayes, at Bagdad, " were attacked at a time when Mr. Stocker " and wife, and Mr. Andrew Whitehead (the " former on their route from Hobart Town to " Port Dalrymple, with a cart containing a " large and valuable property) had unfortu- " nately put up at the house for the night. " Michael Howe was the chief of this banditti, " which consisted of eight others. The property

170 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

" of which they plundered Mr. and Mrs. " Stocker on this occasion, was upwards of " £300 value, among which were two kegs of " spirits. One of these, a member of the gang " wantonly wasted, by firing a pistol-ball " through the head of the keg, which contained " eleven gallons. They set their watches by " Mr. Whitehead's, which they afterwards " returned ; but took Mr. Stocker's away with " their other plunder. Mr. Wade, chief con- " stable of Hobart Town, had stopped with the " others at Mr. Hayes's; but, hearing a noise, " which he considered to denote Ihe approach " of bush-rangers, he prudently attended to " the admonition, and escaped their fury, which " it was concluded would have fallen heavily " upon him, as they are at variance with all " conditions in life that are inimical to their " crimes. On the morning of the 2d instant, " Mr. William Maum, of Hobart Town, sus- " tained the loss of three stacks of wheat by fire, " at his farm at Clarence Plains, owing to the " act of an incendiary.

" On the 14th of November a large body, " consisting of fourteen men and two women, " were unwelcomely fallen in with by a single " man on horseback, at Scantling's Plains. " Howe and Geary were the most conspicuous : " they compelled him to bear testimony to the

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN. DlEMEN's LAND. 171

" swearing in of their whole party, to abide by " some resolutions dictated in a written paper, " which one of them finished writing in the " traveller's presence. After a detention of " about three quarters of an hour, he was suf- " fered to proceed under strong injunctions to " declare what he had been an eye-witness of; " and to desire Mr. Humphrey, the magistrate, " and Mr. Wade, the chief constable, to take " care of themselves, as they were bent on " taking their lives, as well as to prevent them " from growing grain, or keeping goods of " any kind. And by the information of a " person upon oath, it appears that they had, " about the same period, forced away two go- u vernment servants from their habitations, to u a distant place, on which the crimes of these " wretches have stamped the appellation of " Murderer's Plains, (by themselves facetiously " called the tallow-chandler's shop) where they " kept them to work three days in rendering " down beef-fat. How they could afterwards " appropriate so great a quantity of rendered " fat and suet, is truly a question worthy to be " demanded ; for it is far more likely it should '* be taken off their hands by persons in or near " the settlements, who are leagued with them, " in the way of bartering one commodity for " another, than that the bush-rangers should " either keep it for their own use, or bestow so

172 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

" much trouble on the preparation of an article, " that would soon spoil in their hands. The " cattle that were in this instance so devoted, " were the property of Stones and Tray, who " declare that out of three hundred head, one *' hundred and forty have lately disappeared."

All the outrages above enumerated, it will be seen, were perpetrated within the short period of ten days; and these settlements continued the scene of similar enormities, until the July following, an interval of nearly eight months. On the serious injury which the industrious and deserving of all classes, must have experienced in that time, from the inability of the govern- ment to afford them protection, it would be useless here to dilate. It must be evident, that such extremes of anarchy could not be of any long duration ; and that one or other of these two events became inevitable, either that the exertions and enterprize of the colonists should be brought to a stand, or that these disturbers of the general tranquillity, should suffer condign punishment. Fortunately the cause of public jus- tice triumphed, and the majority of these mon- sters fell victims, either to common distrust, or to the violated laws of their country. And here, after detailing some few of their excesses, I cannot refrain from giving in turn the account of the measures that led to their discomfiture

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMBN'S LAND. 173

and apprehension, as extracted from the Sydney Gazette of the 4th October, 1817.

" A meeting of public officers and principal " inhabitants and settlers, was convened at " Hobart Town, by sanction of his honour, " Lieutenant-Governor Sorrel, (the successor " of Colonel Davy) on the 5th of July, for " the purpose of considering the most effectual " measures for suppressing the banditti ; when " the utmost alacrity manifested itself to sup- tf port the views of government in promoting " that desirable object, and a liberal subscrip- " tion was immediately entered into for the " purpose. The following proclamation was " immediately afterwards issued by the Lieute- " nant-Governor.

" Whereas, the armed banditti, who have for " a considerable time infested the interior of " this island, did on the 10th ultimo, make an " attack upon the store at George Town,which, " being left unprotected, they plundered, taking " away two boats, which they afterwards cast " ashore at the entrance of Port Dalrymple ; " and whereas the principal leader in the " outrages, which have been committed by this " band of robbers, is Peter Geary, a deserter " from his Majesty's 73rd regiment, charged " also with murder and various other offences ;

174 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

" and whereas the undermentioned offenders " have been concerned with the said Peter " Geary in most of these enormities ; thefol- " lowing rewards will be paid to any person " or persons, who shall apprehend these offen- " ders, or any of them :

" Peter Geary, - One Hundred Guineas.

" Peter Septon, ^

" John Jones, - Eighty Guineas each.

" Richard Collyer, 3

" Thomas Coine, "^

" Brown, or Brune, > Fifty Guineas each.

" a Frenchman, j

" And whereas George Watts, a prisoner, " who absented himself from the Coal River, " previous to the expiration of his sentence, u and who stands charged with various robbe- " ries and crimes, is now at large : it is hereby " declared, that a reward of eighty guineas " will be paid to any person or persons, who " shall apprehend the said George Watts.

" And all magistrates and commanders of " military stations and parties, and all consta- " bles and others of his majesty's subjects are " enjoined to use their utmost efforts to appre- " hend the criminals above named.

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DlEMEN'g LAND. 175

" On the 10th of July, a division of the ban- " ditti proceeded to George Town, and seizing " upon the government boats, induced five of " the working people to abscond with them ; " upon representation whereof to the Lieute- " nant-Governor, a proclamation was issued, " requiring the return of those persons, under " the assurance of forgiveness, if so returning " within twenty days, from the consideration " that the settlement of George Town had been " for some days without command or controul ; " the causes of which will be found in our sup- " plement of this day ; wherein Mr. Superin- " tendent Leith, has, in his testimony upon the " murder of the chief constable of the settle- " ment, declared his necessary absence to Laun- " ceston at the express period.

" The gang of bush-rangers appeared in the vicinity of Black Brush on Saturday, and were tracked on the following morning by Serjeant McCarthy, of the 46th, with his party. On Monday the bush-rangers were " at a house at Tea-tree Brush, where they " had dined, and about three o'clock Serjeant " McCarthy with his party came up. The " bush-rangers ran out of the house into the " woods, and being eleven in number, and " well covered by timber and ground, the " eight soldiers could not close with them.

"

176 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

" After a good deal of firing, Geary, the leader, " was wounded, and fell; two others were " also wounded. The knapsacks of the whole, " and their dogs were taken. Geary died the " same night, and his corpse was brought into " town on Tuesday, as were the two wounded " men.

" The remaining eight bush-rangers were " seen in the neighbourhood of the Coal River " on Wednesday ; but, as they must have been " destitute of provisions and ammunition, san- " guine hopes were entertained of their speedy " fall.

" Dennis Currie and Matthew Kiegan, two " of the original bush-rangers, surrendered on " the Monday following.

" On Wednesday, a coroner's inquest was " held on the body of James Geary, who died u of the wound received in the affair at Tea- " tree Brush. Verdict, Homicide in further- " ance of public justice.

" Jones, a principal of the banditti, was '* shot in the beginning of August, in the " neighbourhood of Swanport, which is on " the eastern shore. For some days they had " not been heard of; but by the extraordinary

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEN*S LAND. 177

" exertions of Serjeant McCarthy and his " party of the 46th regiment, were tracked " and overtaken at the above place ; on which " occasion Jones was killed on the spot by a " ball through the head. A prisoner of the " name of Holmes was by the bush-rangers' " fire wounded in two places, but we do not u hear mortally.

" On the Sunday evening, after the above

" affair, some of the villains effected a robbery

" at Clarence Plains ; but became so exces-

" sively intemperate from intoxication as to

6( quarrel among themselves ; the consequence

" was, that another of the gang of the name

" of Rollards, having been most severely

" bruised and beaten by his associates, fell into

" the hands of a settler, and was by him taken

" a prisoner into Hobart Town. White and

fe Johnson, two others of the gang, were appre-

" hended by Serjeant McCarthy's party on

" Thursday the 14th of August, being con-

te ducted to their haunts by a native woman,

" distinguished by the name of Black Mary,

" and another girl.

" After the above successes in reducing the " number of these persons, some of them still " continued out, on the 16th of August, as " appears from a report published : of the old

178 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

" bush-rangers, Seplon, Collyer, Coine, and

u Brune, also Watts, who kept separate from

" the rest, and Michael How, who had before

'" delivered himself up, and after remaining

" some weeks in Hobart Town, took again to

" the woods, from a dread, as was imagined,

" of ultimately being called to answer for his

" former offences. At this period also, there

(f were two absentees from George Town,

" Port Dalrymple ; a number of the working

" hands having gone from that settlement

" shortly before, all of whom had returned to

" their duty but these two. White, Rollards,

" and Peck, were about this time under a

" reward of sixty guineas for their apprehen-

" sion, for an attempt to commit a robbery at

" Clarence Plains; Peck was a freeman, the

" other two prisoners."

" By the 6th of September, nearly the whole " of the absentees of whatever description had " either surrendered or been apprehended ; and " upon this day a proclamation was issued offer- " ing the following rewards ; for the apprehen • " sion of^Michael Howe, one hundred guineas ; " for George Watts, eighty guineas ; and for " Brune, the Frenchman, fifty guineas ; and, in

f consequence of these prompt and efficacious " arrangements, additional captures had been

' made, which placed it nearly beyond a doubt

SETTLEMENTS IN NEW HOLLAND. 179

<( that Howe is almost, if not the only indi- " vicinal of the desperate gangs now at large."

This latter assertion, however, does not appear to have been correct ; for in a Sydney Gazette of the 25th of October, of the same year, we have the following account of the apprehension and surrender of some others of this banditti, and of an unsuccessful attempt to take Michael Howe, which will tend 'to elucidate the desperate character of this ruf- fian.

" Several persons have arrived as witnesses " on the prosecution of offenders transmitted " for trial by the Pilot ; two of whom were " charged with wilful murder, viz. Richard " Collyer, as a principal in the atrocious " murder of the late William Carlisle and " James O'Berne, who were shot by a banditti " of bush-rangers at the settlement of New " Norfolk, on the 24th of April, 1815 ; the " particulars whereof were published in the a Sydney Gazette of the 20th of the following " May. The other prisoner for murder is John " Billiard, who was only one of the banditti of " bush-rangers; but being desirous of giving " himself up, determined previously by force " or guile, to achieve some exploit, that might " place the sincerity of his contrition beyond

N 2

STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

" doubt. Accident soon brought the above " Collyer, together with Peter Septon, another " of the banditti, within his power. He at- " tacked and killed Septon, and wounded " Collyer, who nevertheless got away, but was " soon apprehended. It is for the killing of " Septon, he is therefore to be tried. Four of u the prisoners sent by this vessel are for sheep " stealing. Another of the late banditti, George " Watts, is come up also, but under no criminal " charge, as we are informed, he having been " desperately wounded by Michael Howe, in " an attempt assisted by William Drew, to take " him into Hobart Town a prisoner ; but in " which exertion Drew was shot dead by that " desperate offender, and the survivor Watts " nearly killed also."

I have been thus copious in extracts from the Sydney Gazette, to shew the lamentable state of danger and anarchy, in which the colonists in Van Diemen's Land have been kept by an inconsiderable banditti, who, from the imbeci- lity of the local government, have been enabled to continue for many years in a triumphant career of violence and impunity. This iniqui- tous and formidable association may, indeed, be considered as crushed for the moment, although the most desperate member of it is still at large.*

* It appears that (bis desperado has at length met with the fate

SETTLEMENTS IK VAN DIEMEx's LAND. 181

But what pledge have the well disposed part of the inhabitants, that a band equally atrocious will not again spring up, and endanger the general peace and security ? What guarantee, in fact, have they that this very ruffian, the soul and center of the late combination, will not serve as a rallying point to the profligate, and again collect around him a circle of robbers and murderers as desperate and bloody as the mis- creants who have been annihilated? Andean the pursuits of industry quietly proceed under the harassing dread which this constant liability to outrage and depredation must inspire ? There is no principle less controvertible, than that the subject has the same claims on the government for support and protection, as they have on him, for obedience and fidelity. The compact is as binding on the one party, as on the other ; and it is really discreditable to the established character of this country, that any part of its dominions should have continued, for so long a period, the scene of such flagrant enormities, merely from the want of a sufficient

which his atrocities had so justly merited. He was killed by three of his associates, who in order to obtain their own pardon resolved to deliver him into the hands of justice. In the attempt, however, to take him alive one of them was shot dead by him and another dangerously wounded. But the two survivors not- withstanding his desperate resistance overpowered him and cut oil his head, which they brought into Hobart Town and delivered to the Lieut. Governor.

182 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

military force, to insure the due administrar tion of the laws, and to maintain the public tranquillity.

CLIMATE, &c.

The climate of this island is equally healthy, and much more congenial to the European constitution, than that of Port Jackson. The north-west winds, which are there productive of such violent variations of temperature, are here unknown ; and neither the summers, nor winters, are subject to any great extremes of heat, or cold. The frosts, indeed, are much more severe, and of much longer duration ; and the mountains, with which this island abounds, are covered with snow during the greater part of the year ; but in the vallies it never lingers on the ground more than a few hours. Upon an average, the mean difference of temperature, between these settlements and those on New Holland, (I speak of such as are to the eastward of the Blue Mountains ; for the country to the westward of them, it has been already stated, is equally cold with any part of Van Diemen's Land,) may be estimated at ten degrees of Fahrenheit, at all seasons of the year.

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN UlEWEN'S LAND. 183

The prevailing diseases are the same as at Port Jackson : i. e. phthisis, and dysentery ; but the former is not so common. Rheumatic complaints, however, which are scarcely known there, exist here to a considerable extent.

SOIL, &c.

In this island, as in New Holland, there is every diversity of soil, but certainly in propor- tion to the surface of the two countries, this contains, comparatively, much less of an in- different quality. Large tracts of land perfectly free from timber or underwood, and covered with the most luxuriant herbage, are to be found in all directions ; but more particularly in the environs of Port Dalrymple. This sort of land is invariably of the very best description, and millions of acres still remain unappropriated, which are capable of being instantly converted to all the purposes of husbandry. There the colo- nist has no expence to incur in clearing his farm : he is not compelled to a great preliminary outlay of capital, before he can expect a con- siderable return ; he has only to set fire to the grass, to prepare his land for the immediate reception of the plough-share ; so that, if he but possess a good team of horses, or oxen, with a set of harness, and a couple of substantial ploughs, he has the main requisites for commencing an

184 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

agricultural establishment, and for insuring a comfortable subsistence for himself and family.

To this great superiority, which these south- ern settlements may claim over the parent colo- ny, may be superadded two other items of dis- tinction, which are perhaps of equal magnitude and importance. First, The rivers here have sufficient fall in them to prevent any excessive accumulation of water, from violent or conti- nued rains ; and are consequently free from those awful and destructive inundations, to which all its rivers are perpetually subject. Here, therefore, the industrious colonist may settle on the banks of a navigable river, and enjoy all the advantages of sending his pro- duce to market by water, without running the constant hazard of having the fruits of his labour, the golden promise of the year, swept away in an hour by a capricious and domineer- ing element. Secondly, the seasons are more regular and defined, and those great droughts, which have been so frequent at Port Jackson, are altogether unknown. In the years 1813, 1814, and 1815, when the whole face of the country there was literally burnt up, and ve- getation completely at a stand-still from the want of rain, an abundant supply of it fell here, and the harvests, in consequence, were never more productive. Indeed, since these

. SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEN's LAND. 185

settlements were first established, a period of fifteen years, the crops have never sustained any serious detriment from an insufficiency of rain ; whereas, in the parent colony, there have been, in the thirty-two years that have elapsed since its foundation, I may venture to say, half a dozen dearths, occasioned by droughts, and at least as many arising from floods.

The circumstance, therefore, of Van Die- men's Land being thus exempt from those cala- mitous consequences, which are so frequent in New Holland, from a superabundancy of rain in the one instance, and a deficiency of it in the other, is a most important point of consi- deration, for all such as hesitate in their choice betwixt the two countries ; and is well worthy the most serious attention of those, who are desirous of emigrating to one or the other of them, with a view to become mere agricultu- rists.

AGRICULTURE, &c.

In the system of agriculture pursued in the two colonies, there is no difference, save that the Indian corn or maize, is not cultivated here, because the climate is too cold to bring this grain to maturity. Barley and oats, however,

186 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THli

arrive at much greater perfection, and afford the inhabitants a substitute, although by no means an equivalent, for this highly valuable product. The wheat, too, which is raised here, is of much superior description to the wheat grown in any of the districts at Port Jackson, and will always command in the Sydney market a difference of price sufficiently great to pay for the additional cost of transport. The average produce, also, of land is greater, although it does not ex- ceed, perhaps not equal the produce of the rich flooded lands on the banks of the Hawkes- bury and Nepean. A gentleman, who resided many years at Port Dalrymple, estimates the average produce of the crops at that settlement as follows : Wheat, twenty-five bushels per acre ; barley, forty bushels per ditto ; oats, he does not know, but say fifty bushels per ditto. This estimate is not at all calculated to impress the English farmer with as favourable an opinion of the fertility of this settlement as it merits ; but, if he only witnessed the slovenly mode of tillage, which is practised there, he would be surprised, not that the average produce of the crops is so small, but that it is so great. If the same land had the benefit of the system of agriculture, that prevails throughout the county of Norfolk, it may be safely asserted that its produce would be doubled. The land on the upper banks of the river Derwent arid at Pitt- water, it equally

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN UlEMKHi's LAND. l8t

fertile ; but the average produce of the crops, on the whole of the cultivated districts belong- ing to this settlement, is at least one fifth less than at Port Dalryrnple.

These settlements do not contain either such a variety or abundance of fruit as the parent colony. The superior coldness of their climate sufficiently accounts for the former deficiency, and the greater recency of their establishment for the latter. The orange, citron, guava, loquet, pomegranate, and many other fruits which attain the greatest perfection at Port Jackson, cannot be produced here at all without having recourse to artificial means ; while many more, as the peach, nectarine, grape, <fcc. only arrive at a very inferior degree of maturity. On the other hand, as has been already noticed, the apple, currant, gooseberry, and indeed all those fruits, for which the climate of the parent colony is too warm, are raised here without difficulty.

REARING OF CATTLE, &c.

The system of rearing and fattening cattle is perfectly analogous to that, which is pursued at Port Jackson. The natural grasses afford an abundance of pasturage at all seasons of the year, and no provision of winter provender, in the shape either of hay or artificial food, is made by the settler for his cattle ; yet, notwithstand-

188 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF1 THE

ing this palpable omission, and the greater length and severity of the winters, all manner of stock attain there a much larger size than at Port Jackson. Oxen from three to four years old average here about 700lbs, and wethers from two to three years old, from 80 to 90 Ibs. ; while there oxen of the same age, do not average more than 500lbs. and wethers not more than 40lbs. At Port Dalrymple it is no uncommon occurrence for yearlings to weigh from 70 to SOlbs. and for three year old wethers to weigh 150lbs. and upwards ; but this great disproportion of weight arises in some measure from the greater part of the sheep at this settlement, having become, from con- stant crossing, nearly of the pure Teeswater breed. Still the superior richness of the natural pastures in these southern settlements is without doubt the main cause of the increased weight at which both sheep and cattle arrive ; since there is both a kindlier and larger breed of cattle at Port Jackson, which nevertheless neither weigh as heavy, nor afford as much suet. This is an incontrovertible proof that the natural grasses possess much more nutritive and fat- tening qualities in this colony than in the other ; and the superior clearness of the country is quite sufficient to account for this circumstance, without taking into the estimate the additional fact, that up to a certain parallel

•

SETTLEMENTS IN VAN DIEMEN's LAND. 189

of latitude, to which neither the one nor the other of the colonies in question extends, the superior adaptation of the colder climate for the rearing and fattening of stock is quite unques- tionable.

PRICE OF PROVISIONS AND LABOUR.

The price of provisions is about on a par in the two colonies, or if there be any difference, is somewhat lower in this. Horses three or four years back were considerably dearer than at Port Jackson ; but large importations of them have been made in consequence, and it is pro- bable that their value is before this time com- pletely equalized.

The wages of ordinary labourers are at least thirty per cent, higher, and of mechanics, fifty per cent, higher than in the parent colony ; a disproportion solely attributable to the very unequal and injudicious distribution that has been made of the convicts.

MANUFACTURES.

The progress made by these settlements in manufactures is too inconsiderable to deserve notice, further than as it affords a striking proof,

190 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

in how much more flourishing and prosperous a condition they are than the parent colony.

COMMERCE, INCOME, DUTIES, &c.

The commerce carried on by the colonists is of the same nature as that, which is main- tained by their brethren at Port Jackson. Like them, they have no staple export to offer in exchange for the various commodities, which they import from foreign countries, and are obliged principally to rely on the expenditure of the government for the means of procuring them. Their annual income may be taken as follows :

£ s. d. Money expended by the government for

the pay and subsistence of the civil

and military, and for the support of

such of the convicts as are victualled

from the king's stores, £30,000 0 0

Money expended by foreign shipping, 3,000 0 0 Wheat, &c. exported to Port Jackson, 6,000 0 0 * Meat and live stock exported to the

Isle of France and other places, 4,000 0 0

* To what an extent this item of export is likely to be car- ried, may be judged of by the following paragraph, taken from a Sydney Gazette, of the 18th of July, 1818. "The Duke of Wellington, Captain Collins, with twelve hundred sheep, and twelve cows on board, sailed from Hobart Town, for the Mauritius on the 29th ultimo, as also the Frederic, Captain Williams, with forty-eight cows.

SETTLEMENTS JN VAN DIEMEN'.S LAND. 191

£ S. d. Money expended by emigrants and

convicts, 6,000 0 0

•<•.•<

r>

Exports collected by the merchants of

the settlement, 5,000 0 0

Sundries, - - .,-•, 2,000 0 0

Total, - £56,000 0 0

The duties collected in these southern settle- ments are exactly on the same scale as at Port Jackson, and amount to about £'5,00() annually, inclusive of the per centage allowed the collec- tors of them.

00

J

IS

^

—

•*i

s

CO

fc

a

CO

•a

3 ^

aJ

^

CO

PS

				co	o
	|	|		C5	•<*
6	CIS	•0		5	i
JS	|	«0		O	CO
s		^"		CN	00
03	£	CN		»O	2 •
&	2		CN 00	o 00
35	^		CN	co*
cL 2 no	0 I 1— 1		0 i	0 CO o" CO
QJ <U*	eo		C	r- O5
C *-;	S		5S	CO
0 05	Jf		v$	cT
33 °	•*		»0	rt
0) e o	o co"		l-O co^ CO	§ co
	3?	90 O o		o o co	2? CD «o
	o	1/3		o
	H	fO	OO	CN	IO
	S s o> o 0 bb	CO	r-H 00 1— 1	0 o CO oT	CO (D
	d t3
	"^ J	s	s	O5	CN CO
	* ca cj	00	5P
	CJ Q		o
	rt CO	05		0
	O Q Cu *'	5	d	CO t-	^
C			HH
en	O> tn ai »5j Q	-		CN	g
£	{2 §|	o		5	CN
	°s 1	!»>•* CO IO		i	CO 1— 1
	s- i	CO		o •"91 r— I 1-f	CO
	_i T3 oj If! 3 co ^	s		§		1
	•j I.J	-		06"		*
	|	CN CO		o o	oo CO CO
	2	•»		^^
		oo		o"	^
	^			CM
			o
M	j ^			r^
O ««- "g	CO		c^	CO
^ ^ O	o"		*o	^J-
t/3	(N		CN
				<u
	cd			i ">	<U a,
	O			a S	Q 5
	H			B	0

( 193 )

PART II.

Operation of the existing System of Government in the Colony for the last fifteen Years.

IT is generally considered a matter of asto- nishment that the colony of New South Wales, situated as it is, in a climate equal to that of the finest parts of France, of Spain, and of Italy, and possessing a soil of unbounded fertility, should have made so little progress towards prosperity and independence. The causes, however, which have contributed to its retard- ment, are the same, as have been attended with similar effects in all ages. Not only the records of the years that are no more, but the experi- ence also of the present day, concur in proving, that the prosperity of nations is not so much the result of the fertility of their soil, and the benignity of their climate, as of the wisdom and policy of their institutions. Decadence, poverty, wretchedness, and vice, have been the invariable attendants of bad governments ;

194 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

as prosperity, wealth, happiness, and virtue, have been of good ones. Rome, once the glory of the world, now a bye-word among the na- tions ; once the seat of civilization, of affluence, and of power, now the abode of superstition, poverty, and weakness, is a lasting monument of the truth of this assertion. Her greatness was founded on freedom, and rose with her consulate : her decadence may be said to have commenced with her first emperor, and was completed under his vicious and despotic dy- nasty : her climate and soil still remain ; but the freedom which raised her to the empire of the world has passed away with her institutions.

. 1? -ai i*jfei/!i« If we search still further back into antiquity,

we shall find that most of the great nations, which have at various times preponderated over their neighbours, attained their utmost force and vigour, during the period of their greatest free- dom and virtue ; and that their decadence and ultimate annihilation were the work of a suc- cession of vicious and tyrannical rulers. The empires of Persia and of Greece, were suc- cessively established by the superior freedom and virtue of their citizens ; and it was only when the institutions, which were the source of this freedom and virtue, were no longer reverenced and enforced, that each in its turn became the prey of a freer and more virtuous people.

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 195

The experience of modern times is still more conclusive on this subject ; because no part of the chain of events, which have contributed to the aggrandisement or impair of existing na- tions, lies hid in the mist of ages. If we regard the unprecedented wealth and power of our own country, we shall be convinced that her present pre-eminent position is not so much the effect of her soil and climate, since in these respects she is confessedly behind many of the nations of Europe — as of the superior freedom of her laws, which have engendered her a freer, more vir- tuous, and more warlike race of people. It is to her superior polity alone that she is indebted for a dominion, unparalleled in the history of the world ; and it is to its rigid maintenance and enforcement that she must look for its durability.

While England has been thus assiduously attentive to her own immediate internal pros- perity, she has not in general been neglectful of those external possessions, which she has gra- dually acquired by colonization, by conquest, or by cession. On the most distant branches of her empire, she has engrafted, as far as circum- stances would in general admit, those institu- tions, which have been the main cause of her own internal happiness and prosperity. In the West Indies, in Canada, and lately in the Ionian Islands, she has introduced the elective fran- o 2

196 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

chise, and established that mixed counterpoising form of government, whose three component parts, though essentially different in their na- tures, so admirably coalesce, and form one com- bined harmonious whole. It has, in fact, been one of the leading maxims of her political con- duct, and undoubtedly one of the chief causes of her present greatness, to attach the people, who have been embodied into her empire, or who have emigrated from her shores only to colonise new countries, and thus to extend her limits and increase her resources, by an equality of rights and privileges with her subjects at home. The navigation act, indeed, militates, in some degree, against the liberal view here taken of her colonial policy ; but the existence of this single act, which, however its wisdom may be at present canvassed, there can be no doubt has proved the basis of her commercial and mari- time ascendency, will not invalidate the claim to liberality, of which her colonial system is in other respects deserving. The conduct of her government has undoubtedly been in most in- stances liberal and enlightened ; and, if she has occasionally deviated from her ordi- nary enlarged policy of establishing the re- presentative system, and leaving to the colo- nies themselves the liberty of framing laws adapted to their several circumstances and wants, it has been principally in those cases,

FOR -THE LAST 'FIFTEEN YEARS.. 197

where the ancient inveterate habits of the peo- ple, their difference of religion, and inferior civilization, have rendered such deviations un- avoidable. India furnishes the principal exam- ple of such exception to her general policy ; yet, even in her remote possessions in that country, the sixty millions who are subject to her sway, enjoy a security of person and pro- perty unknown to them, while under the go- vernment of their native princes. It is on this amelioration in their condition, and not on the strength and number of her armies, that her do- minion in that part of the worldis founded : — and after all, what government is so stable as that, which is bottomed on opinion, and depends for its existence on general utility, and the consent of the governed ? Dominion may, indeed, be acquired, and continued by force and terror; but, if it have no other props to support it, it is at best but precarious, and must sooner or later fall, either by the resistance of those, whom it would hold in subjection, or by under- mining their moral and physical energies, and thus rendering them unfit even for the vile pur- poses of despotism itself.

The colony of New South Wales, is, I be- lieve, the only one of our possessions exclu- sively inhabited by Englishmen, in which there is not at least the shadow of a free government, as it possesses neither a council, a house of as-

198 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

sembly, nor even the privilege of trial by jury. And, although it must be confessed that the strange ingredients of which this colony was formed, did not, at the epoch of its foun- dation, warrant a participation of these impor- tant privileges, it will be my endeavour in the sequel to prove, that the withholding of them up to the present period, has been the sole cause, why it has not realized the expecta- tions, which its founders were led to form of its capabilities.

It is not difficult to conceive that the same causes, which in the lapse of centuries have sufficed to undermine and eventually ingulph vast empires, should be able to impede the progress of smaller communities, whether they be kingdoms, states, or colonies. Arbitrary governments, indeed, are so generally admitted to impair the moral and physical energies of a people, that it would be superfluous to enter into an elaborate disquisition, in order to de- monstrate the truth of a position, which has been confirmed by the experience of ages. Whoever is convinced that he has no rights, no possessions that are sacred and inviolable, is a slave, and devoid of that noble feeling of independence, which is essential to the dignity of his nature, and the due discharge of his functions. The noble assurance that he is in the path of duty and security, so long as he

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS.

refrain from the violation of those laws, which may have been framed for the good of the community of which he is a member, is the

* «

main spring of all industry and improvement. But this dignified feeling cannot exist in any society, which is subject to the arbitrary will of an individual ; and, although the governor of this colony does not exactly possess the unli- mited authority of an eastern despot, since he may be ultimately made accountable to his sovereign and the laws, for the abuse of the power delegated to him, I may be allowed to ask, should he invade the property, and violate the personal liberty of those, whom he ought to govern with justice and impartiality, where are the oppressed to seek for retribution ? Is it in this country, situated at sixteen thousand miles from the seat of his injustice and oppres- sion ? To tell a poor man that he may obtain redress in the court of King's Bench, what is it but a cruel mockery, calculated to render the pang more poignant, which it would pre- tend to alleviate ?

•H.' *

I am not here amusing myself with the sup- position of contingencies, that may never occur. I am alluding to outrages, that have been actu- ally perpetrated, and of which the bare recital would fill the minds of a British jury with the liveliest sentiments of compassion and gym-

200 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

pathy for the oppressed, and of horror and indig- nation against the oppressor. Leaseholds can- celled, houses demolished without the smallest compensation, on the plea of public utility, but in reality from motives of private hatred and revenge, freemen imprisoned on arbitrary war- rants issued without reference to the magistracy, ' and even publicly flogged in the same illegal and oppressive manner ; such were the events that crowded the government of a wretch, whom it would be as superfluous to name, as it is need- less to hold him up to the execration of poste- rity.* If such an immortality were, as it appears

* The following anecdote, for the authenticity of which I pledge myself, will afford a better illustration of this monster's character, than whole pages of general declamation and invec- tive. At the period of his government cattle were extremely scarce in the colony, and the stockholders were very tenacious of allowing their cows to be milked, from the injury it did the calves. Milk was in consequence a great rarity ; but as the governor, naturally enough, did not choose to forego any of the good things of this life, particularly whenever it was in his option to obtain them without any expense, he had always a number of cattle from the government herds, to furnish a supply of it for his household. The surplus he generously distri- buted among his favourites. One of these was a gentleman belonging to the medical staff, who used in common with all those permitted the same indulgence, to send his servant daily for his share of this precious fluid. This unfortunate wight happened to go one morning a little too late ; and whether the person charged with the distribution of the milk had been a little too liberal in his donations to such of the gentlemen's servants as

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YFARS. 201

to have been, the object of his pursuit, he has completely attained it. Almost at his very offset in life, he acquired a notoriety which increased through all the subsequent sinuosities of his career. Not content with pushing the discipline of the service to which he belonged, in itself sufficiently severe, to its extreme verge, by an excess of vexatious brutality, he goaded into mutiny a crew of noble-minded fellows, the greater part of whom, it has since been discover- ed, pined away their existence on a desolate island, lost to their country and themselves, the sad victims of an unavailing remorse. Yet there

had attended in due time, or whether the cows did not give their usual quantity that morning, there was not a drop left for him on his arrival. Not reflecting that this disappointment was occa- sioned by his own negligence, he ventured to make some remarks, such as " he did not know why his master should not have his share as well as another gentleman, &c. &c/' which proved so highly disagreeable to the feelings of the great man who administered this highly important office, that he imme- diately went and complained to the still greater man who had invested him with it. This august personage not only feelingly participated in the insult which had been offered his faithful domestic, but vowed that he should have the most ample satisfaction. He accordingly ordered the complainant to send the offending party into his presence on the following morning ; strictly enjoining him before hand to take especial care that he should remain ignorant of the chastisement which was in petto for him. Accordingly when the poor fellow came as usual for his master's quota of milk, he was told by the great man whom he had the day before unwittingly offended, that the governor

202 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

is one of them still living, who has since fully evinced his devotedness for his country's glory, and has been deservedly raised to that elevated rank in her service, which, but for him, many more might have lived to attain. .Despised by his equals in his profession, and detested by his inferiors, he was contradistinguished from other worthy officers of the same name, by prefixing to his that of the vessel, which was the scene of this act of insubordination, in the event the grave of many a noble spirit, that might other- wise have proved an honour to themselves and a credit to their country. The brutal tyranny, that characterised his conduct on this occasion,

desired to speak to him. Wondering that so distinguished a personage should even know that so humble a being as himself was in existence, and at a loss to conjecture what could be his gracious will and pleasure, he was ushered trembling into his dread presence. In an instant his alarms were quieted. The governor told him with a condescending smile, that, as the chief constable's house was in his way home, he had merely sent for him to be the bearer of a letter to that person, from a desire to spare his dragoon the trouble of carrying it. He, of course, delivered the letter with all haste, little imagining what were its contents. When the chief constable perused it, he ordered out the triangles ; the poor wretch was instantly tied up to them, and in a stupor of surprise and consternation underwent the punishment, (whether twenty-five or fifty lashes I am not sure) which was ordered to be given him, without any explanation till after its infliction, of the reasons why he had received it. Was not this a refinement of cruelty worthy the most atrocious monster of antiquity?

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 203

would have alone sufficed to brand him with the imputation of " coward," had it been even un- connected with the many subsequent acts of oppression which have stamped his career, and of which it is to be hoped for the prevention of future monsters, that the infamy will long ser- vive the records. The 26th of January, 1808, the memorable day, when, by the spontaneous impulse of a united colony, he was arrested ; (and fortunate for the cause of humanity is it, that he was then arrested for ever*) in the per-

* When I wrote this part of the present work, the person to whom it has reference was living ; and the only alteration, which I have made in it since his death, has been the necessary chan- ges in the tenses of the verbs. My assertions have been scrupu- lously regulated by truth; but 1 am still aware that they might have been pronounced libellous in a court of justice; and I have been advised by some of my friends to cancel them, on the ground that the recollection of injuries should not be prolonged beyond the grave.

The applicability, however, of Ihis principle to private re- sentments is not more evident, than its inapplicability to public. The tomb, which ought to be the goal cf the one, is the starting post of the other. It is the legitimate province, nay more, one of the most sacred duties of the annalist to speak of public characters after their deaths, with that severity of reprobation or of praise, to which their conduct in public life may have entitled them. Have not all impartial biographers and his- torians acted on this principle? And shall I be deterred from following so just and salutary an example ? If when death has set his seal upon a man's actions, and when the evil which he has committed is irremediable, the voice of censure is still to

204 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

petration of the most atrocious outrages, that ever disgraced the representative of a free govern- ment, has substantiated his claim to this charac-

be silent, when, I may ask, ought it to be heard? Had such an ill-judged forbearance been practised by historians, would the world have known that any tyrants, except those who may exist at the present epoch, or who may have existed within the reach of memory or of tradition, ever infested the earth ? Would not the enormities of the Dionysii, of Caligula, and of Nero, have been long since forgotten ? And would not many of those princes who have merited and obtained the appellations of" great," of " good," and of "just." have become as atro- cious monsters as these were, but from the dread of being held up as objects of similar execration to posterity ? The tyrant, indeed, whose conduct I would stamp with merited detestation, moved, fortunately for the interests of mankind, in a humbler sphere, and, therefore, his atrocities have a greater tendency to sink into premature oblivion. But is it a less sacred duty to take all such steps as may be calculated to deter his successors from treading in his footsteps ; because they will only have thou- sands to trample upon instead of millions? Ought not oppres- sion in every community, whether great or small, to be dis- couraged by all possible means? And what means are so likely to effect this end, and to prevent these secondary tyrants from sneaking out of the pages of record and recollection, as to project their memories red-hot from the sun of public indignation, w.'th a long fiery train of inextinguishable ignominy, which may serve to point out their tracks ; and to render them for ever glaring objects of dread and execration, not only to the planet of which they may have proved the bane, but to the whole system encir- cled by their orbits ? In persevering, therefor?, in the remarks which I made on this man's actions when he was living, it is my conscientious belief that I have only acquitted myself of an

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 205

ter beyond the possibility of doubt. Dreading the resentment of the people, whom he had so often and so wantonly oppressed, and having on his back that uniform, which was never so dishonoured before, he skulked under a servant's bed in an obscure chamber of his house, but was at length discovered in this disgraceful hole, and conducted pale, trembling, and covered with flue,* before the officer, who had com- manded his arrest ; nor could this gentleman's repeated assurances that no violence should be offered his person, convince him for a conside- rable time that his life was in safety from the vengeance of the populace ; so conscious was he of the enormity of his conduct, and of the jus- tice of an immediate and exemplary retaliation.

This instance of tyranny, I am willing to allow, was an aggravated one, and such as it is to ba hoped for the honour of our species would be rarely repeated. That it has occurred, how- ever, is sufficient to demonstrate the impro- priety of confiding unlimited power to any

imperatire duty ; and that I should have been guilty of a gress dereliction of it, had I done otherwise. On this conviction, unalloyed by any baser impulse, I rest the defence of my con- duct ; should there be any of my readers, who may be inclined to view it in the same unjustifiable light as it is regarded by some few of my friends.

* See Lieutenant-Colonel Johnstone's court-martial.

206 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

individual in future. The mere possession of such vast authority is calculated to vitiate the heart, and to engender tyranny ; nor are examples wanting in history of persons, who though models of virtue and moderation in pri- vate stations, yet became the most bloody and atrocious tyrants on their elevation to supreme power. So great, indeed, is the fallibility of human nature, that the very best of us are apt to deviate from that just mean, in the adherence to which consists virtue. All governments, therefore, should provide against this capital defect. They should be so constituted, as to have in view not only what should happen, but what might happen. Possibilities should be con- templated as well as probabilities. The power to do good should if possible be unlimited ; the ability to do evil followed with the highest re- sponsibility, and restrained by a moral certainty of punishment. An authority, such as the governor of this colony possesses, might be tole- rated under a despotic government ; but it is a disgrace to one that piques itself on its freedom. What plea can be urged for encouraging ex- cesses in our possessions abroad, that would be visited with condign punishment in our courts at home ? Are those who quit the habitations of their fathers, to extend the limits and resources of the empire, deserving of no better recom- pense than a total suspension of the rights and

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 207

liberties, which their ancestors have bequeathed them ? Are they, on their arrival in these re- mote shores, to meet with no one of the insti- tutions, which they have been taught to cherish and to reverence ? If the want, indeed, of these institutions, of which so many centuries have attested the wisdom, had as yet been productive of no evil, there might be some excuse offered for withholding them ; but,' after such a scandal- ous abuse of authority, the colonists expected, and had a right to expect, that no subsequent governor would have been appointed, without the intervention of some controlling power, which, while it should tend to strengthen the executive in the due discharge of its functions, might at the same time protect the subject in the legitimate exercise and enjoyment of his private and personal rights. Never was there a period, since the foundation of the colony, when the impolicy of its present form of government was so strikingly manifest ; and never, perhaps, will there be an occasion, when the establish- ment of a house of assembly, and of trial by jury would have been hailed with such enthusiastic joy and gratitude : and accordingly the disap- pointment of the colonists was extreme, when on the arrival of Governor Macquarie, it was found that the same unwise and uncon- stitutional power, which had been the cause of the late confusion and anarchy, was con-

208 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

tinued in all its pristine vigour ; and that he was uncontrolled even by the creation of a council.

I would here have it most distinctly under- stood, that I do not mean to cast the slightest imputation on the conduct of this gentleman, whom his majesty's ministers selected with so much discrimination in this delicate and embar- rassing conjuncture. The manner in which he has discharged, during a period of more than ten years, the important functions con- fided to him, has completely justified the high opinion that was formed of his moderation and ability. He has fully proved that he had no need of any controlling power,* to keep him in the path of honour and duty; and has raised the colony, by his single prudence and discretion, to as high a pitch of prosperity, as it perhaps could have attained, in so short a period, under

* Since I wrote this encomium on Governor Macquarie's administration, a petition from some few individuals, com- plaining of and enumerating several acts of oppression, said to have been committed towards them by this gentleman, has been presented to the House of Commons by Mr. Brougham . The honourable and learned member did not, however, choose to pledge himself for the correctness of the allegations set forth in this petition; and therefore, until they are substantiated, the gentleman whose conduct has been thus impeached, ought to be considered as innocent of the charges preferred against him. If the event, however, should prove that they are founded in

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 209

such a paralysing form of government. But it has not been in his power to benefit the co- lony to the extent, which he has contemplated and desired. Many of the projects, which he has submitted to the consideration of his ma- jesty's ministers, have not obtained their ap~ proval. It would appear, indeed, that the very parent, to whom this strange unconsti- tutional monster owes its birth and existence, is distrustful of her hideous progeny ; and that, by way of securing the people, whom she has suffered it to govern, against the unlimited de- vastations, which it might be tempted to com- mit, she has prohibited it from moving out of certain bounds, without her previous concur- rence and authority. The wisdom of this pre- caution has been sufficiently manifested by the terrible excesses, which it has committed within the sphere of this circumscribed jurisdiction. If its conduct, with the possession of so ini-

truth, the fact will only afford an additional proof of the demo- ralizing influence of arbitrary authority on the minds of those who possess it, and of the impolicy of suffering the present form of government to continue in force a single hour beyond the period necessary for its supercession. Never was there a more humane and upright man than Governor Macquarie ; and if the power with which he has been for so many years intrusted, has indeed at length propelled him beyond the bounds of moderation and justice, it may be safely asserted that there are but very few men in existence whom it would not have tempt* ed to commit a similar indiscretion.

210 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

perfect a degree of liberty, has been atro- cious, it cannot be 'difficult to conceive, to what lengths an unlimited power of action might have tempted it to proceed. Still there can be no doubt that this state of restraint, on the one hand so salutary and provident, has on the other occasioned much injury, and prevented the adoption of many measures of the highest urgency and importance to the welfare of the colony. Among these the failure of Governor Macquarie's attempt to procure the sanction of his majesty's ministers for the erection of distilleries is perhaps the most. justly to be deplored.

From the period* at which this colony was

* This epoch may be dated so far back as 1 804 ; the har- vest of that year was so abundant, and the surplus of grain so extensive, that no sale could be had for more than one half of the crop. During the greater part of the following year, wheat sold at prices scarcely sufficient to cover the expense of reaping, threshing, and carrying it to market ; pigs and other stock were fed upon it ; and these two years of such extraordinary abundance involved the whole agricultural body in the greatest distress ; grain was then their only property, and it was of so little value that it was invariably rejected by their creditors in payment of their debts. The consequence was that it was wasted and neglected in the most shocking manner ; scarce- ly any person would give it house room, and had the har- vest of the following year proved equally abundant, the majo- rity of the settlers must have abandoned their farms, and

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 211

able to raise a sufficiency of grain for its con- sumption, the adoption of this measure has been imperatively called for by the wants and circumstances of its inhabitants ; and, it is to so palpable an omission, that the constant succes- sion of abundance and scarcity, which, to the astonishment of many inquiring persons, has for the last fifteen years alternately prevailed there, is mainly ascribable. So long as the necessities of the government were greater than the means of the colonists to administer to them, the productive powers of this settlement developed themselves with a degree of rapidity, which furnishes the surest criterion of its ferti- lity and importance. But, from the moment this impulse was checked, from the instant the supply exceeded the demand, the colony may be said to have continued stationary, with re- spect to its agriculture ; producing, in favourable seasons, somewhat more than enough grain for its consumption, but, in unfavourable ones, whe- ther arising from drought, or flood, falling so greatly deficient in its supply, that recourse has been invariably had to India, in order to

sought for other employment. Fortunately, however, for the agricultural interests, the great flood of 1806 intervened to pre- vent the impending desertion ; the old and new stacks on th« banks of the Hawkesbury and Nepean were all swept away, and thus for a few years afterwards the supply of grain was kept pretty nearly on a level with the demand for it.

p 2

212 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

guarantee its inhabitants from the horrors of famine, which have so often stared them in the face ; and to which, but for such salutary pre- caution, the majority of them must have long ago fallen victims. These dreadful deficiencies have been the natural and inevitable result of a want of market ; since no person will expend his time and means in producing that, which will not insure him an adequate return for his pains. So long, therefore, as other channels of indus- try, yielding a more certain compensation for labour, were open, the colonist would naturally prefer such more profitable occupation to the comparatively precarious arid unproductive cul- ture of his land ; and it was accordingly found, that many, who had till then devoted their sole attention to agriculture, abandoned at this period all tillage, but such as was necessary for the support of their households, and employed the funds, they had acquired by the former successful cultivation of their farms, in the pur- chase and rearing of cattle, which continued a certain lucrative employment, long after agri- cultural produce had become of a depreciated and precarious value. The reason, why these two branches of husbandry did not keep pace in this, as in other countries, is obvious from the remoteness of its situation, which rendered the conveyance of cattle thither so extremely difficult and expensive, that but a very limited

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 213

supply of them was furnished, in comparison with its necessities. The increase, therefore, of these cattle could only be proportionate to their number ; while no bounds were as yet assigned to the extension of agriculture, but, on the con- trary, the whole combined energies of the colo- nists directed to this single channel by the great demand which existed for their produce. Not but that the rearing of cattle was from the com- mencement equally, and indeed far more pro- fitable than the cultivation of the land ; but their exorbitant price excluded all but a few great capitalists from embarking in so lucrative an undertaking ; while, on the contrary, a stock of provisions, with a few axes and hoes, and a good pair of hands to wield them, were the principal requisites for an agricultural esta- blishment ; and, indeed, in the early period of this settlement, both food and tools were supplied the colonists by the liberality of the government, till sufficient time had elapsed for the application of the produce of their farms to their own support.

But to return to the epoch, when the supply of corn became too great for the demand, and when, as has been already noticed, some part of those who, till then had been exclusively engaged in agriculture, turned their attention to the more beneficial occupation of rearing cattle; still the

214 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

secession of these, who formed but a very in- considerable member of the agricultural bod} , in consequence of the enormous price of cattle even at that period, and the great capital, which it required to become a stock-holder to any extent, afforded but a very trivial relief to such as adhered from necessity to their original employment. In this conjuncture, therefore, many of the next richer class aban- doned their farms, and with the funds which they were enabled to collect, set up shops or public-houses in Sydney. This town was at that time the more favourable to such under- takings, in consequence of the brisk commerce carried on with China, by means of American and India-built vessels, that were in part owned by the colonial merchants, and procured sandal wood in the Fegee Islands, at a trifling expense, which they carried direct to China, and bartered for return cargoes of considerable value. The Seal-islands too, which were discovered to the southward of the colony, furnished about the eame period, an extensive and lucrative employ- ment for the colonial craft, and contributed not less than the sandal wood trade to the flourishing condition of this port. It was also about this time that the valuable whale fisheries, which the adjacent seas afford, were first attempted ; but repeated experiment has proved that the duties, which are levied, as well in this country as in

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 215

the colony, on oil procured in colonial vessels, amount to a complete prohibition, Many of the merchants, whose enterprizing spirit prompted them to repeated efforts, in order to bear up against the overwhelming weight of these duties, have found to their cost, that they are an insuperable obstacle to the successful prose- cution of these fisheries, which would otherwise prove an inexhaustible source of wealth to the colony, and provide a permanent outlet for its redundant population. These two branches of commerce, so long as they were followed, afforded a support to great numbers of the colonists, and rendered the shock, which the agricultural body had sustained, less sensible and alarming. I say these two, because the third has never been prosecuted but with loss ; and has, in fact, proved a vortex, which has devoured a great part of the profits that the other two yielded. For some years, however, these two channels have been so completely drained, that they are only at present pursued by desperate adventurers, who seldom or never obtain a return commensurate with the risk they run, and the capital they employ. But, even during the period of their utmost produc- tiveness, the number of persons, who were immediately engaged in them, or who aban- doned the plough to place themselves behind the counter, was far from providing a remedy

216 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

for the disease of the agricultural body : be- cause, in the former instance, tLcse two branches of commerce were only capable of affording employment to a limited population ; and, in the latter, a capital was necessary, not so great indeed as had been required to enter successfully on the grazing system, but yet far more considerable than it was in the ability of the majority of the colonists to raise. By these mi- grations, therefore, the pressure and embarrass- ment of the agricultural body, which by this time had gradually lost the richest and most respectable portion of its members, was but little, if at all alleviated ; and some other ex- pedient became every day more and more ne- cessary to be adopted by those who remained. In this exigency many abandoned their farms altogether, and hired themselves as servants to such richer individuals as had occasion for their services ; while others, and undoubtedly the greater part of them, cultivated but a small portion of their land, and afterwards travelled in search of labour till harvest time, at which period they returned, reaped, threshed, and disposed of their crops, and, after recultivating the same spot, sought, during the rest of the year, employment as before, wherever it could be found. And this is the mode of life which a great number of the poorer settlers pursue to this day.

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN TEAKS. 217

But the effect of these entire, or partial seces- sions from the agricultural body, was not so ex- tensively beneficial as might at first be imagined. All this time the population was in a state of rapid progression, both from the daily influx of people from without, and from the amazing fecundity of the colonists within. The distress, "therefore, of the colony continued increasing in proportion to its increasing population. And, although it may appear strange, that, while it was a subject of such notoriety that the settlers were already too numerous for the occasions of the colony, fresh volunteers should crowd to enrol themselves under their banners, this sur- prise will cease, when it is stated that the set- tling of new lands was for many years a mat- ter of traffic between the government and the colonists, by which, as it is natural to conclude, the former were no great gainers. It was their policy, and undoubtedly necessary in the early stages of the settlement, and even at present under proper restrictions, to encourage the ex- tension of agriculture generally, but more parti- cularly in the inland districts, that are not sub- ject to flood ; and to this end it was custo- mary to support new settlers with their wives, families, and servants, for eighteen months, at the expense of the crown. The natural con- sequence was, that all who had become free, either by the expiration of their servitude, by

218 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

conditional emancipation, or by absolute pardon, and who had no means of support, embraced this offer of the government, which assured them a subsistence that enabled them to seek at their leisure for a more lucrative occupation elsewhere. Nor are these poor creatures, who thus profited by the liberality of the govern- ment with an intention to abuse it; to be too harshly condemned : still less so are those who arriving strangers in the colony, and having in most instances wives and families, the support of whom in inactivity would be daily consuming their little all, embraced this, the only imme- diate mode of subsistence that occurred to them. These people, as soon as the helping hand of the government was withdrawn, and it became incumbent on them to depend on their own proper resources, would be immediately subject to the same privation and misery which pressed on the rest of their body, and would con- sequently be under the necessity of resorting to the same expedients for relief. The great in- crease, which has taken place of late years in the cleared lands of the colony, has been the result of this system, and not the gradual pro- gressive operation of a flourishing agriculture. This assertion I consider fully borne out by a comparison between the quantity of land cleared, and the quantity in cultivation. By the last return from the colony, taken so late

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 219

as November, 1818, it appears that there are 49,600 acres of cleared land, out of which only 32,124 are cropped ; 17,476 acres, therefore, (or more than one-half of what is in cultivation) are lying waste, a circumstance which can only be accounted for in this manner ; since the system of fallowing land is not in practice. It must, therefore, be evident, that the clearing of so great a portion of land, over and above what is required by the situation and wants of the colony, must have been effected by unna- tural means. The increase of produce has not, indeed, outstepped the growth of population, but it has kept pace with it, and all the cleared land, which is not employed in the raising of this produce, has evidently been a useless ex- penditure of labour.

Thus this copious afflux of new colonists into the uninhabited districts in the interior, which had hitherto been exclusively occupied by the flocks and herds of the graziers, did not produce the permanent advantage, that the enormous expense incurred by the government in their outfit ought to have insured. At the same time it was of undoubted injury to the stock-holders, by preventing them from allowing their cattle to roam at large during the night, in consequence of the liability to tres- pass and poundage, which the indiscriminate

•220 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

dispersion of small agricultural establishments over the whole face of the country, without fences of any description to protect them, every where occasioned. To be sure, the colonists will have derived this very material advantage from the great quantity of cleared land now lying waste ; that, whenever the pernicious policy, which has paralized their energies, and blasted the general prosperity, shall be relinquished, and a judicious system of encouragement 'substituted in its stead, they will instantly be prepared to profit by the capa- bilities, which the wisdom and justice of the parent government shall have at length afforded them.

But the future increase in the cleared lands will not be proportioned to the past, because directions have of late been transmitted from this country, to allow future colonists only six months provisions from the king's stores, for themselves and their households, instead of eighteen months, as heretofore. This very material diminution in the measure of encour- agement held out to future colonization will clearly be attended with a threefold operation. It will be a grievous disadvantage to such respectable persons as emigrate from this country, with a real intention, but with funds scarcely adequate to a permanent settlement

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 221

in the colony ; it will still further discourage the existing agriculturist and grazier, by lessen- ing the demand of the government for their produce ; and it will increase the general em- barrassment, both by narrowing this channel of employment, which was supplied by the liberality of the government, and by curtailing the means of the colonists at large to provide labour for that part of the population, which will be thus turned loose on them twelvemonths sooner than usual.

To the credit of the present governor it must be allowed, he has done all that a bene- volent heart and a sagacious head could dic- tate, to counteract the growing distress and misery. He has exhausted all the means in his power to give employment to the large portion of unoccupied labour, which it has not been within the compass of individual enter- prize to absorb. He has effected the greatest improvements in the capital, by enlarging and straightening the streets, and by erecting various public edifices of the highest utility and ornament. The same superintending hand is visible throughout all the inferior towns and townships, many of which indeed are of his own foundation. He has made highways to every cultivated district, thus affording the inhabi- tants of them the greatest facilities for the

222 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

cheap and expeditious conveyance of their pro- duce to market. In fine, throughout every part of the colony and its dependent settlements at the Derwent and Port Dalrymple, he has ef- fected improvements, which will long continue monuments of the wisdom and liberality of their author. But it cannot be denied, however beneficial these and other improvements of the same nature, which are in progress, may be, either with respect to their immediate or more remote consequences, that they are but mere temporary sources of alleviation, whose benig- nant supply will cease with the discharge of the great body of workmen whom they at present maintain in activity. This, indeed, as well as all the other expedients, which I have already enumerated, as having been practised in order to find outlets for the superabundant labour, have been productive of no permanent relief.

This assertion is satisfactorily substantiated by the present unnatural efforts of the colonists in the establishment of various manufactories, particularly those of cloth and hats. I say unnatural; — because, in the common course of things, the origin of such establishments ought to be coeval only with an entire occupation of the soil, and with a redundancy of population. And this chiefly for two reasons: because a greater capital is required in their foundation,

•r' FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 223

and a greater degree of skill and dexterity in their development. It is on this account that, in Canada, and our colonies in the West Indies, which being in a great measure left to the guid- ance of their native legislatures, it is to be pre- sumed, adopt the line of policy that is at once most consistent with their own interests, and with those of the parent country, since in the persons of her representatives, she approves or annuls their proceedings, we find that manu- factures have been altogether neglected, while their agriculture and plantations, while, in fine, the exportation of raw materials, whether the natural or artificial productions of these colonies, has been promoted in every possible manner. That this is the system, which ought to have been pursued, we have a still more forci- ble proof in the instance of the United States of America, and of many of the ancient nations of Europe ; which, unfettered by any depend- ence whatever on any foreign power, and hav- ing consequently pursued the policy, that has been deemed the most consistent with their respective interests, have made but very little progress in manufactures, and are, therefore, still under the necessity of having recourse for manufactured commodities to other countries. If then the promotion of agriculture be more politic in many independent states, which have not yet attained the same maturity of growth and civilization, that characterise the principal

224 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

manufactoring nations of the world, by how much more prudent must the encouragement of it be in a dependent colony like this ; possessed as it is of all the requisites for an unlimited exten- sion of its agriculture in the fertility of its soil, the benignity of its climate, and the extent of its territory, and wanting all the essentials for the production of manufactures, skill, capital, and

population ?

i

The existing state of things, therefore, is not only contrary to the welfare of the colony itself, but also in diametrical opposition to the interests of the parent country. A great ma- nufacturing nation herself, it is her undoubted policy, and that, which on every occasion, I believe, but the present, she has pursued, to aug- ment in her colonies, at one and the same time, the consumption of her own manufactures, and the growth of such productions, as she has found essential to her own use, or to the supply of other nations. The toleration, therefore, of a system so averse to her acknowledged interests, can only be attributed to ignorance, or inad- vertence. But, it is not in the forcible abolition of these manufactories, created by necessity, and still rendered indispensable by the same irresistible law, that the condition of the colony is to be ameliorated or redressed. So long as the sai 3 pernicious disabilities, which have

FOR THK LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 225

already reduced the colonists to beggary and de- spair, and rendered unavailing the resources of a country, that might rival in the number and value of its exports, the most favoured of the globe, con- tinue to be enforced, this manufacturing system is a lamentable but necessary evil. After put- ting it out of their power to purchase the more costly clothing of the mother country, it would be an intolerable exercise of authority to pre- vent them from having recourse to the homely products of their own industry and ingenuity. Under existing circumstances, indeed, there is no alternative between permitting them the use of their own manufactures, and compelling them to go naked, like the aborigines of the country, or to clothe themselves in the skins of animal?. There is but one remedy for the disease of the colony ; it is to give due encouragement to agriculture, and to promote the growth of exportable commodities, which its inhabitants may offer in exchange for the productions of other countries. The manufacturing system, which has begun to take root, will then wither away of its own accord ; since it will then be the least productive manner, in which capital and labour can be employed.

Happy would it have been for the colonists, if these repeated efforts, these distressing and embarrassing expedients to supply their wants.

Q

226 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVEIi.NM bKT

had been the only injurious consequences re- sulting from the stagnation of agriculture. The day, when their wretched situation shall have at length awakened the commiseration of the parent country, would then have witness- ed the term and bounds of their sufferings, Alas! far different will be the case. Like a ruined merchant, who would defer to the utmost length the disgrace of bankruptcy, in the daily hope of some prosperous adventure to retrieve his fortune and restore his credit, the settlers have gone on contracting debts, which have accumulated with the increasing embar- rassments of the community. The engagements of the majority of the cultivators thus swelled in a few years to a bulk, which they had no longer any chance of reducing. Pressed on all sides by their creditors, the mortgage or sale of their farms became inevitable ; and even these sacrifices have, in general, been far from can- celling their bonds ; so that they not only have ceased to be proprietors, but still continue deb- tors to a large amount. Their creditors, in many instances, a set of rapacious, unprincipled dea- lers, availing themselves of the power, that the law would give them over the personal liberty of these, their debtors, immediately took that advantage of their own commanding position, which might have been expected from their characters. They engaged, or more properly

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN TEARS. 227

speaking, constrained these poor wretches to cultivate as tenants the same soil which lately belonged to them, and exacted from them in return a rent too exorbitant to be paid. Every succeeding year, therefore, has but tended to increase their obligations ; and they are at present identified with the soil, and reduced to all intents and purposes, except in name, to as complete a state of vassalage as the serfs of Russia. If they should be in need of any trifling supply, it is to their pro- prietors, and to them only, that they dare have recourse, though they would be able to obtain the same articles a hundred per cent, cheaper elsewhere. To their granaries the whole pro- duce of their industry is conveyed : and, in spite of all their toil and privation, far from discharging their original debts, they find them- selves every day more deeply involved. The more they struggle, the more complicated and firm becomes their entanglement. Lament- able as must undoubtedly be such a hopeless state of servitude, it still appears to them pre- ferable to the precincts of a prison. They respire the free invigorating air of their plains, and can still traverse them at their option, or at least, when the season arrives which closes their daily task. But this privilege, it must be confessed, is purchased at its uttermost value. We have philanthropists among us, who justly Q2

228 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

commiserate the condition of that unoffending race of people, who, dragged from the scenes of their nativity, and the habitations of their fathers, have been consigned by a gang of mer- ciless kidnappers to perpetual slavery them- selves, and to the still more intolerable necessity of bequeathing an existence of similar endure- ment and degradation to their offspring. After years of strenuous indefatigable exertion, these friends of humanity, these noble champions of liberty have succeeded, if not in emancipat- ing those, who had already been consigned to this unmerited doom, at least in preventing the further extension of this infernal traffic. Would it not be an effort worthy the same philanthropy, which has thus secured the protection and deliverance of unoffending Africa, to procure the emancipation of suffering Australasia ? to raise her from the abject state of poverty, slavery, and degradation, to which she is so fast sinking, and to present her with a constitution, which may gradually conduct her to freedom, prosperity, and happiness ?

It must be admitted that this state of slavery, so galling to the subjects of a free country, has been in some measure imposed on the co- lonists by their own imprudent extravagance. Already but too much inclined by their early habits of irregularity to licentious indulgence,

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 229

the prosperous state of their affairs, during the first fifteen years after the foundation of the settlement, presented the strongest inducements to a revival of their ancient propensities, which had been repressed, but not subdued. Imagin- ing that the same unlimited market, which was then offered for their produce, would always continue, they only thought of consuming the fruits of their industry ; not doubting that the same fields, which thus lavishly administered to the gratification of their own desires, wTould amply suffice for the more moderate enjoyments of their offspring. But, when once their produce began to exceed the demand of the government, and when in a short time afterwards from the want of due encouragement, all the various avenues of in- dustry that lay open were successively filled, and the means of occupation either greatly circum- scribed, or entirely exhausted, these people so long habituated to unrestrained indulgence found it difficult to support that privation, which became incumbent on their condition ; and, in order to procure those luxuries, of which they so severely felt the want, exhausted their credit, and ended by alienating their possessions. There can be but little doubt, that if the colo- nists, instead of expending, had providently accumulated the money, which they so pro- fusely acquired during the period of their agri- cultural prosperity, their actual situation would

have been far preferable ; for, though the gra- dual retrogradation, which I should imagine it must at present be sufficiently evident that the colony has been undergoing, for these last fifteen years, would by this time have greatly diminished, if not have totally absorbed their former savings, still their lands would have remained to them, nor would they have been reduced to that state of vassalage and misery, which they are this^day enduring. Lamentable, therefore, as is their condition, the consideration, that it has thus far been occasioned by their own imprudence, is apt to detract from that unbounded commiseration, which it would other- wise excite; if, on the other hand, we do not reflect in extenuation of their thoughtlessness and extravagance, that their former increased means of indulgence were the result of their industry ; that this industry was in the first instance called into activity by the encourage- ment of the government ; that it has since been paralysed by a concatenation of unwise and unjust disabilities imposed by the ^same power ; and that consequently their present wretched and degraded situation is not so much to be ascribed to their former improvi- dence, as to the actual impolicy and injustice of their rulers. If we furthermore consider the short period, in which this great change in their circumstances has been effected, we shall

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 231

feel convinced that so sudden a transition from affluence to poverty could not be patiently endured, and that every method of rendering so unexpected and galling1 a burthen more supportable, would be naturally and inevitably resorted to. To prove still more satisfactorily that this state of slavery, to which so large a proportion of the original settlers are re- duced, has not been so much the result of their own imprudence, as of the impolicy of their government, numerous instances might be adduced of persons, not indeed skilled in the arts of husbandry, whose habits have always been regular and moderate, who have been for many years stockholders, as well as agri- culturists, and who, notwithstanding this two- fold advantage, aided by an undeviating eco- nomy, have been unable to keep themselves free from the embarrassments, in which the bare cultivators of the soil are so generally involved. To what end then has their frugal- ity been directed, if a few years more will in- gulph their possessions, and reduce them to the same state of vassalage and degradation, to which their less provident brethren are already subjected ? They have, indeed, in the pros- pective some short period of unexpired freedom ; but I doubt much, whether the gradual ap- proach of inevitable slavery be scarcely more enviable, than slavery itself.

232 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

The great concussion, which the agricultural interests thus sustained at the epoch, when the productive powers of the colony exceeded the consumptive, and the continued shocks, to which they have been exposed ever since, have not unfortunately affected the agricultural pros- perity alone, but have shaken to the founda- tion the commercial edifice also. Unluckily both the agricultural and commercial classes seem to have been alike ignorant of the death-blow, which had been struck at their welfare. The settler continued in the same career of thought- less extravagance, which his circumstances, when they were even in their most flourishing state, had scarcely permitted, and the merchant went on without hesitation advancing him goods, in the hope of extricating his old customer from difficulties, which he only imagined to be of temporary pressure ; never for a moment suspecting that they were the forerunners of deeper embarrassment and ultimate ruin. Need I state the consequences ? The extended credits, which the first merchants thus gave the settlers on the strength of the progressive increase of their produce, rendered them at last unable to fulfil the engagements, which they had contract- ed with British and East India houses, and they were eventually involved in the destruction, which had so suddenly overwhelmed the great mass of their debtors, on whom they were ne-

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 233

cessarily dependent for support. All of them, who had been distinguished by their equitable dealings, and by their liberality of conduct, re- ceived at this moment so rude a shock in their affairs, that they have been unable, amidst the increasing decadence of the community at large, to re-establish their credit, and, after disposing of the scattered wrecks of their fortune, have not only been reduced to penury, but are still indebted to their correspondents in the amount perhaps of £100,000. These gentlemen thus driven from the commercial circle by their liberality unwillingly inflicted a deadly wound on the credit of the colony. Foreign merchants would no longer have any account dealings with their successors ; and generally ever since the commercial intercourse with England and the East Indies has been maintained without any confidence on the part of the merchants of these two countries ; the money has been received in one hand, and the goods delivered in the other. This cautious system has given birth to another race of merchants, much more prudent than their predecessors, but also much less serviceable to the colony, and much less adapted to its emergencies. These in their dealings have been forced to observe the same circumspection, which had been adopted to wards themselves, and have given no credit, but to those whose means of payment were unquea-

234 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOTERNMEZfT

tionable. As the majority of the colonists have been always in the back ground, since the epoch, which I have just described, and have in consequence been unable to produce ready money, a subordinate class of traders, but still superior in their circumstances, and the ex- tent of their transactions, to those little inferior dealers, who are to be found in all countries, started up, and have since acted as intermediary agents between the importers and the great body of consumers. The object of this class has been, and continues to be, not so much to realize large fortunes in money, which indeed, under existing circumstances, would be scarcely possible, as to acquire immense landed pos- sessions : and their system, which in fact is the natural consequence of this policy, is to require of the settlers mortgage securities anterior to the supply of such articles as they may be in need of. As they are frequently unable punctually to comply with the condi- tions of these mortgages, their creditors eagerly embrace the opportunity, whenever it offers, of foreclosing them, and are thus gradually becoming proprietors of the finest estates in the colony; estates, which, whenever its capabilities shall be called into unrestrained action, will insure them and their posterity fortunes of a colossal magnitude. While this class of tra- ders are thus becoming the most considerable

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS.

landholders in the colony, they have not only taken care not to give credit to such an extent as might occasion a diminution in their trading capital, but have even contrived to in- crease it very materially. This system, there- fore, of buying goods, and afterwards selling them at an almost arbitrary profit, the greater part of which is thus converted into landed property, is daily gaining ground, and will in- fallibly in the end, unless proper measures be speedily taken to counteract it, reduce the great majority of the agricultural body to the same state of vassalage, which a large propor- tion of its members are already enduring. And, what renders the increasing wealth and power of the small number who thus profit by the embarrassments of the settlers, and make them- selves masters of their persons and properties, still more odious and galling, is the considera- tion, that in most instances they are the least deserving, and yet the only class of the com- munity to whom the present order of things is favourable. While all the rest of the population are groaning under the aggravated pressure of toil, privation, and despair, they are fattening on the surrounding misery, and every day mak- ing rapid strides towards the attainment of im- mense riches, under the propitious shelter of a system, which would appear to have been ex- pressly contrived for their especial aggrandise-

•

236 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

ment, at the expense of the freedom, prospe- rity, and happiness of the whole social body besides. Like vultures, that in the midst of combats soar in safety above the destruction raging beneath, but descend at its close, and tranquilly devour the mangled carcases, which the exterminating engines of war have laid prostrate for their repast, these men out of the influence of the oppressive disabilities, which are overwhelming all but themselves, eagerly watch the progress of the surrounding misery, and impatiently await its completion ; more cruel than vultures, since covered with the -/Egis, that has unnerved the force and paralysed the energies of their neighbours, they introduce themselves into the midst of the havoc of their own species, and prey upon the living victims who are sinking around them.

And here it may not be inexpedient to recon- cile the existence of so much distress, with so large an income, and so small a population as the colony and its dependent settlements are known to possess. The former, it has been seen, maybe estimated in round numbers at £213,000, the latter at 25,000 souls : so that if the annual income were equally divided among the entire population, and they were all agriculturists, and could furnish themselves with food, (I make this supposition, because it is at their option to become agriculturists, and conse-

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 237

quently a legitimate inference, that it is not the interest of such as have not embraced this alter- ation to do so) they would each have, — man, wo- man, and child, 8/. 10s. yearly for the purchase of articles of foreign growth and manufacture alone. This, I am ready to allow, is comparatively a much larger sum than could be appropriated by the inhabitants of this country to similar pur- poses ; and it would, therefore, appear on the first view incompatible with the doleful picture of distress, which I have drawn. If, however, the remoteness of the colony from England, India, and China, the three principal supply- ing countries, be duly considered, and the great expense of freight and insurance una- voidably attached to so long a navigation, — an expense, which, in the first of these instances, is augmented in a two-fold degree by the entire absence of return cargoes ; — if it be stated that these local disadvantages alone render it im- possible for the importers to dispose of their merchandize for less than fifty per cent, on the prime cost to their immediate purchasers, and that at least three fourths of the population are obliged from the want of ready money to buy on long credits of these secondary agents, who fashion their prices according to the nature and extent of their customers' embarrassments, sometimes contenting themselves with a second advance of fifty'per cent., but more frequently

238 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

affixing to their goods a profit of a hundred- and fifty and two hundred per cent. — if it be recollected how far these grievous exac- tions are aggfavated by the system of vassal- age just described, — a system, which places all the unfortunate wretches, who are reduced to it, at the absolute mercy of their rapacious land- lords ; — if the profligate and improvident habits and disposition of the generality of the colonists be taken into the estimate, and their total dis- regard of order and economy in their domestic arrangements ; — but, above all, if their unfortu- nate propensity to the excessive use of spirituous liquors be superadded, a propensity, which like Aaron's rod swallows up every other passion, and for the momentary gratification of which they willingly sacrifice every prospect of present enjoyment, and deliberately entail on themselves ' and their families lasting privation and want ; — I say, if due consideration be given to all these circumstances, it will be no difficult matter to believe in the sad reality of the general wretchedness and penury I have depicted. But it must be further evident that this equal divi- sion of the colonial revenue has been assumed merely by way of exemplification, and that it is a fiction, the realization of which is beyond the extreme verge of possibility ; — a fiction, which never has been, and never can be veri- fied. In this colony, as is in every other com-

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 239

munity, there is a regular gradation of pro- perty, and perhaps there is no country on the face of the earth, except Russia, where it is so partially distributed. If then I have recon- ciled the- probability of the wretched condi- tion of the colonists, with the assumption of an equality of wealth, when there is, in fact, the greatest inequality, it must be evident that the picture, which I have drawn, pregnant and glowing as it is with distress, is far from sur- charged, and still requires both colouring and expression to convey a perfect representation of the scene.

Of the whole colonial income about £170,000 annually may be considered as arising from the labours of the agricultural body. This is undoubt- edly that portion of the colonial wealth, which gets into most general circulation ; but even it is far from undergoing that minute subdivision and universal diffusion, which are requisite for the maintenance of a constant internal circula- ting medium. Created for the most part by the government in payment of the grain, meat, &c. furnished by the settlers, it is immediately handed over by them to the traders, to whom they may be indebted, and from these again passes to the importing merchants, on whom they may be dependent for their supplies of mer- chandize, who in their turn eventually transmit

2'10lNFLUBNCfB.OF THE 8YSTUM OF GOVEIINMKJiT

it to their foreign correspondents. It may consequently be perceived that the purchases and sales, which must be incessantly occurring, besides those, to which this part of the colonial income is thus devoted, such as the sales of pro- visions in the markets, the payment of wages, and, in fine, the infinite transactions to which the wants, or the whims of society are eternally giving birth, and to which a common medium of determinate value is essential, are but little, if indeed at all facilitated by a sum of money, which, after passing through a few hands, dis- appears from the colony for ever. To prevent, therefore, the interchanges and activity of the community from being brought to a stand, it became necessary to create some other circula- ting medium ; and, as the government took no part in this highly important affair, the whole burden of the arrangement fell upon the inhabit- ants. The arrangement itself was, in conse- quence, such as might have been expected from their circumstances and situation. The whole of them, who had any real, or apparent preten- sions to responsibility, became with one accord bankers; issuing small promissory notes to provide for their minuter occasions, merely on the strength of their credit, and frequently in anticipation of their means. This " Colonial Currency," as it was termed, soon experienced that depreciation in the market, compared with

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 241

the government, or sterling money, which it was natural to expect from the doubtful cir- cumstances of many of its issuers. In a short time government money could not be had for it under a discount of fifty per cent. Still the drawers of these promissory notes were compelled by the decisions of the court of civil jurisdiction to pay them at par, when- ever they were presented ; so that all the persons of real responsibility, who had been induced in the first instance from necessity to adopt this system, withdrew their bills from the market, and naturally preferred purchasing with government money the notes of others at this depreciated rate, to issuing at the same rate notes of their own, which they would be eventually obliged to take up at par. The consequence was that all the subsequent issuers of these notes were needy adventurers, who, possessing little or no property, adopted this method of supplying their extrava- gance, or entering into desperate speculations that could hardly succeed, in violation of every principle of honesty, and at the expense of the industrious and responsible part of the community. This subsequent currency, there- fore, encountered a still further depreciation ; and, when government money could be at all obtained for it, it was only at a discount of 100, 150, and even 200 per cent. Such, how-

R

242 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

ever, has been the necessity for a circulating medium of some sort or other, that the public, as if by a general implied consent, without any express convention, have permitted the existence and increase of this worthless sub- stitute, and have thus affixed a kind of no- minal value to that, which is in reality worth nothing.

To any one, who has not fully considered the difficulty attending the exchange of one commodity for another, and the impossibility of apportioning, at all times, what one man may have to dispose of to the exact value of what another man may have to offer in return- — an impossibility that would frequently prevent the exchange altogether, and thus subject the parties to mutual inconvenience and distress, — the rude system of barter would appear prefer- able to so vile a common standard of value as the existing currency. Its badness, indeed, has been the means of introducing the system of barter as far as it was practicable ; but, as the entire introduction of this system would be hardly compatible with the first imperfect elements of society, the civilization of the colonists has imposed a limit to it, and pre- scribed a necessity for the toleration of the present circulating medium, which nothing but the creation of a better can supersede.

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 243

Two attempts were made to remedy this evil, but they both in the event proved abortive. The richer class of the inhabitants on these occasions formed combinations and entered into resolutions not to receive in payment the bills of any individuals, who had not been admitted into their society. To prevent a recurrence of the loss, which the original re- sponsible issuers of currency had sustained by its depreciation in the market, they affixed to it themselves a specific depreciation, promising in the body of their notes to pay them on demand in government money at a discount, in the first of these instances, of twenty-five per cent., and in the last of fifty per cent. But it must be evident that a currency of this nature, payable on demand, became of equal value with the sterling money of the govern- ment, to those who took it at the stipulated depreciation; and it was accordingly no sooner in circulation, than it got into the hands of the importing merchants, and was presented to the drawers for payment. It was thus too good for its intended purpose ; and the "old worthless currency, which had been for a while proscribed, gradually returned into circulation. The present governor, sensible of the advan- tage which the colony would derive from its supercession, and from the substitution of ano- ther of intrinsic value in its stead, caused ten

R 2

244 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

thousand pounds worth of dollars to be sent from India, and had a piece struck out of the middle of each, to which he affixed by pro- clamation the value of fifteen pence, and to the remainder that of five shilling's, making the whole dollar worth six shillings and three pence. This money he caused to be given in payment of the various articles of internal produce received into the king's stores ; but, as they were exchanged every month, if presented to the commissariat department, for bills on the lords of the treasury, in the same manner as the government receipts had been exchanged previously, they have not realized the hopes of abolishing the currency, with which they were issued. Some few of them, indeed, have from time to time eluded the grasp of the merchants and traders, and got, in consequence of the minuteness of their separate value, into tempo- rary circulation ; but the use of the original currency has neither been superseded nor dimi- nished.

That the colonists should have been thus forced during so long a period, in spite of all their efforts, and contrary to the desire of their government, to tolerate a medium of circula- tion possessing no intrinsic value whatever, and dependent solely on a general, constrained, and tacit consent for its support and duration, is, I

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS, 245

should apprehend, one of the most forcible proofs, which it is in the nature of things to adduce, in illustration of their present poverty and wretchedness. It is impossible to offer a more satisfactory demonstration of the infe- riority of their means to their necessities. Im- portant under every point of view as is the establishment of a safe currency, such is the irresistible pressure of their debts, so much is their expenditure superior to their revenue, that they can devote no portion of it to the most urgent purpose of domestic economy : the whole is absorbed, and does not suffice to pro- cure those articles of foreign supply, which are absolutely indispensable to civilized life.

Within the last three years,, it appears, indeed, that a company has undertaken the establishment of a colonial bank, and obtained a charter for this purpose from the governor ; but I should imagine they cannot possi- bly succeed in creating a permanent medium of circulation. The constant run their bills will have on them for payment, in conse- quence of the imports of the colony being so much greater than its income, will soon occasion them to exchange the whole of their capital for the mortgage securities on which they at present issue it ; and although this cir- cumstance will not, perhaps, detract from the

246 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

profits of this institution, it will render the toleration of the existing currency, if not of undiminished^ still of indispensable necessity.* The introduction, therefore, of a safe and suf- ficient medium of circulation may be still pro- nounced a desideratum, and one of the first importance to the general prosperity of the colony. The government, in its present dis- tressed situation, are perhaps the only power capable of accomplishing this beneficial ob- ject, and it is to be hoped that they will no longer delay effecting such a great and sub- stantial amelioration.

Amidst .the numerous deplorable conse- quences, that have been attendant on this con- stant state of embarrassment, none perhaps is more deeply to be lamented, than the great check, which this difficulty of finding a profit- able occupation for labour has proved to the progress of population. Mr. Malthus, who has rnmortalized himself by his essay on this branch

* This is an event which the colonists do not appear to antici- pate. It is the general belief that the colonial currency has been crushed for ever; but I am greatly mistaken if that vile medium of circulation will not again revive before the expiration of many years, unless either the capital of the bank be greatly increased, or its operations be in future confined to the discounting of bills at a short date, to the utter •exclusion of the system of advancing •leney on mortgage securities.

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 247

of political economy, has so satisfactorily shewn that the increase of population is pro- portioned to the facility of procuring subsistence, and administering to the various wants of a family, that it is quite unnecessary for me to repeat arguments, with which every one ought to be familiar, to prove that this colony has not been exempt from the destructive influence of causes whose operation has been steady and in- variable in all ages and in all countries, The inference that this difficulty has been a preven- tive to marriage, and to the consequent progress of population is self-evident : to be understood it only requires to be stated. But the numerical increase of the colony has been checked in a still greater degree, perhaps, by the constant returns from its shores, which are daily occasioned by the same causes. What inducement, in fact, exists for any person to remain there, who has the power of quitting it ? Who would volun- tarily become an inhabitant of a country, where he has no rights, no possessions, that are sacred and inviolable ? And where to this insecurity of person and property are superadded the great- est impediments to the extension of industry ? A country of this kind, it may be easily ima- gined, possesses no allurements for those, who have ever breathed a freer atmosphere ; and it is not to be wondered at, that hundreds of con- victs, on the expiration of their several terms ot

248 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

transportation, should be continually leaving a country, where the freeman and the slave are alike subjected to the uncontrolled authority of an individual; where the trial by jury is un- known, and an odious military tribunal substi- tuted in its stead ; and where there is no repre- sentative body to protect them in the enjoy- ment of their rights, and to secure them either from the imposition of arbitrary and destructive taxes, or from the influence of unjust and im- politic laws.

How far these two great checks to population, which I have just mentioned, have operated, may be best ascertained from the census taken, in the colony in the month of November 1817. At that time it appears that the popula- tion of all the settlements, whether in New Hol- land or Van Diemen's Land, amounted only to twenty thousand three hundred and seventy-nine souls. It is not in my power to obtain returns of all the convicts who have been landed at various times in this colony ; but, as it is now about thirty years since the period of its foun- dation, very little doubt can be entertained that the total of them must have nearly equalled the amount of the actual population.* The

* This conjecture has been verified by a publication which has lately appeared from the pen of the Honourable Henry Grey

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 249

number transported thither for some years past cannot be estimated at less than two thousand annually ; yet, notwithstanding this vast yearly numerical accession, notwithstanding the un- paralleled salubrity of the climate, and the consequent small proportion which the number of deaths bears to the number of births, the population of the colony has been found to ad- vance at a comparatively slow pace. It cannot be supposed that it could ever have been in the intention of the government, that those per- sons, whom the sentence of the law had exiled to these remote shores, should thus be inces- santly returning to those scenes, which had witnessed their former irregularities and con- demnation. However sincere their reforma- tion, it must be evident, that with a blemished character the difficulty of obtaining employ- ment, and procuring an honest livelihood, would be almost insuperable. It has been accordingly found that these unfortunate persons have ge- nerally renewed their ancient habits, and ended

Bennet, M. P. intituled, " A Letter to Lord Viscount Sidmouth on the Transportation Laws; the State of the Hulks, and of the Colonies in New South Wales." From this it appears that from May, 1787, to January, 1817, the nnmber of convicts trans- ported thither amounted to seventeen thousand. The entire in- crease therefore which has taken place in the population in the course of thirty years, both from emigration and births, cannot be estimated at more than four thousand souls, so numerous have been the returns of convicts after the expiration of their senteaces.

250 INFLUENCE OK THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

their career either by falling sacrifices on the scaffold to the often violated laws of their country, or by imposing on the government a necessity for the second, and, in many instances, for the third time, of re-transporting them to this colony, where, if sufficient encouragement and protection had been afforded them in the first instance, they would have gladly remained, and have continued good and useful members of society.

It is here but candid to confess that one of the leading causes, why so many of this class are continually quitting the colony, has been their desire to rejoin their wives and families. This motive, however, no longer exists ; sih.ce, in a dispatch from the noble secretary of state for the colonial department to Governor Mac- quarie, of which the receipt has been for some time past acknowledged, it was directed that " returns should be occasionally sent home of such convicts as may have applied for permis- sion for their wives to join them ; and that it should be therein stated, whether such persons have the means of maintaining their wives and families, in the event of their being allowed to proceed to the colony." Measures have been already taken to carry the humane intention here manifested by his majesty's government into effect ; and many hundreds, who would

.

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 251

otherwise have quitted the colony, will now remain there, and thus both the permanency of their reformation will be guaranteed, and the march of colonization greatly accelerated. Generous Britain, not more renowned in arts and arms, than in mercy and benevolence ; may thy supremacy be coeval with thy huma- nity ! Or if that be impossible ; if thou be doomed to undergo that declension and decay, from which no human institutions, no works of man appear to be exempt, may the records of thy philanthropy hold the world in subject awe and admiration, long after the dominion of thy power shall have passed away! May they soften the hearts of future nations, and be a shining sun that shall illuminate both hemi- spheres, and chase from every region of the earth the black reign of barbarism and cruelty for ever !

While the existing system of government is thus rapidly undermining the general prospe- rity and freedom, and presenting the greatest checks to the progress of colonization, it is but natural to conclude from the pertinacity, with which it is maintained, that it is at least pro- ductive of some beneficial results to the power, to which it owes its origin and existence. It were a species of political anomaly to suppose that any order of things diametrically opposite

252 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

to the interests of the governed should be persisted in, unless it were attended with some positive advantage to the governors. Ridicu- lous, however, as in every case, perhaps, but the present such a supposition would be, it is verified in the instance of this colony ; since the system pursued there, is not only destruc- tive of the vital interests of the inhabitants at large, but at the same time, burdensome to the parent country, and contraventory of the very intentions, which gave rise to this distant establishment. This assertion I shall shortly prove, and then leave it to more sagacious politicians, to demonstrate the consistency of what appears to me one of the most absurd and incongruous paradoxes, that are to be met with in the history of governments. And first that the present system is burdensome to this coun- try, and what is worse, must become every year still more so, is evident from the gradually progressive augmentation which has taken place in the expenditure of this colony. From 1788 to 1797, the total expense was £1,037,230, or £86,435 per annum; from 1798 to 1811, it amounted to £1,634,926, or £] 16,709 per annum; and from 1812 to 1815, both in- clusive, to £793,827, or 198,456 per annum. In 1816, the expense was £193^775 10s. 8$d. and in 1817 it was £229,152 6s. 3$d. being nearly treble the annual amount in the year

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEAKS. 253

1797. This estimate, indeed, includes the cost of transportation ; and the rapid increase, that has taken place of late years in the sum total, has been in a considerable degree occasioned by the great increase in the number of criminals sent out to the colony ; but still that there has been a regularly progressive* augmentation to the internal expenditure is quite incontrover- tible. '*io 7/»3 mil fl^rfw, <1nwflfeafe""

It requires no great portion of discernment to foretel that, while the present prohibitory system remains in force, while the colony is alike prevented from profiting by its natural productions, and from calling into life the arti- ficial ones of which it is capable, it must con- tinue an increasing burthen and expense to the power, on which it is dependent for support, and which thus unwisely restrains its exertions. If the consideration of the benefits, which the nation might eventually derive from encourag- ing the growth and exportation of such products as this colony might furnish ; if the prospect of finding, at no very remote period in a part of our own dominions, various raw materials, which are essential to the fabrication of some of our staple manufactures, and for which we are

* For the various items of the colonial expenditure, from the foundation of the colony up to the year 1818, see the Appendix.

254 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

at present wholly dependent on foreigners ; if, in fine, the certainty of extending, instead of destroying, a market for the consumption of those manufactures themselves, be not motives of sufficient weight and cogency to draw the attention of his majesty's ministers to the im- politic and destructive order of things, that prevents the accomplishment of these desirable ends ; — it is at least to be hoped in these times of universal embarrassment, when the cry of distress is resounding from one end of the king- dom to the other, that the desire of effecting a retrenchment in this part of the public ex- penditure, which has swelled to so enormous an amount, solely from ignorance and mis- management, will at length excite inquiry and give rise to a system, that will unfetter the colonists, and, by gradually enabling them to support themselves, no longer render them an unproductive and increasing burden to this country. It is useless, and indeed absurd, for the government to be sending out incessant injunctions for economy, and to be eternally insisting upon the necessity of effecting re- trenchments, which their own impolitic re- strictions render impossible. The addition, which is annually made to the population of the colony, must occasion a corresponding ex- penditure on the part of the colonial govern-, ment. The convicts who are transported thither,

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS.

were maintained at a great expense while in this country, and cannot be supported without cost there. So long as the avenues to industry and enterprize are closed, it is ridiculous to imagine that the colonists can undertake the maintenance of a body of men, for whose labour they can find no profitable occupation. The expense, therefore, of supporting the great mass of convicts, who are constantly ar- riving in this colony, must necessarily increase, in spite of all the exhortations of the govern- ment, and all the efforts of the governor, whoever he may be, to carry them into effect. The present governor, indeed, has contrived in some measure to comply with these recom- mendations of retrenchment, with which he has been harassed ; but his obedience has been attended with the adoption of a most pernicious and indefensible system, that of granting too promiscuously tickets of leave to convicts, be- fore sufficient time elapses for ascertaining the reality of their reformation, and their title to so important an indulgence. This privi- lege, which exempts them from the public works, and enables them to seek employment in every direction throughout the colony, it may be perceived, turns loose a set of men, who have been solemnly pronounced by the laws to b& improper and dangerous members of society ; and affords them an unrestrained opportunity

256 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

of preying upon the industrious and deserving, and of committing fresh enormities, before they have made the atonement affixed to their original offences, and required not more to up- hold the distinction, which ought always to be drawn between virtue and vice, than from a due regard to their future welfare and regene- ration. It is principally to the introduction of the ticket of leave system that the considerable reductions, which have been effected of late years in the expenses of the colony, are to be ascribed. How far this most pernicious and immoral system has been carried, may be seen by reference to the colonial expenditure for the four years anterior to 1816. In 1812 it amounted to £176,781; in 1813 to £235,597; in 1814 to £231,362 , and in 1815 it had fallen to £150,087. In the two following years, indeed, it has been seen that there has been a consider- able increase of expenditure ; but still such has been the extension of the ticket of leave system that notwithstanding four thousand six hun- dred and fifty-nine convicts were transported between January, 1812, and January, 1817, the expenses of the colony for this latter year were £6445 less than for the year 1833; those of 1817 only amounting to £229,152, while those of the year 1813 were £235,597. This violent and unjustifiable mode of retrenchment, how- ever, has not been put into such extensive

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 257

practice with impunity : it has been attended with its natural and inevitable result, — a pro- portionate increase of demoralization and crime. The proof of this assertion I shall rest on the following government order: — " Sydney, 30th August, 1817. In consequence of the frequent robberies, which have been of late committed between Sydney and Parramatta, bis Excellency the Governor deems it expedient earnestly to recommend to persons in general to travel only during the day time, and particularly to those who have the charge of loaded carts, to set out from Sydney and Parramatta respectively so early after sun-rise as to be enabled to reach the place of their destination before sun-set. And, with a view to afford all possible protec- tion to travellers, his Excellency directs the principal superintendent of police at Sydney from and after Wednesday the 3d of September next, to order two constables from thence to patrole the road every night between Sydney and Powell's Half-way House ; and in like man- ner the principal magistrate at Parramatta to order two constables from that place to patrole the road every night between Parramatta and Powell's Half-way House. The duty of such constables to commence at sun-set and cease at sun-rise, until further orders. The magistrates are particularly enjoined not to grant passes to convicts either having tickets of leave or other-

258 INFLUENCE OF THE tYSTEM OF «OVERNMENT

wise, excepting on actual duty, or in cases of real emergency where the object is satisfactorily explained to the magistrate." This injunction to the magistrates not to grant the ticket of leave-men passes, except under particular cir- cumstances, would afford the public very little additional security against their depredations; since their total exemption from public or indivi- dual employment places them out of all restraint, except such as may arise from the surveillance of the police, which even in Sydney is badly or- ganized, because not sufficiently numerous, and to which in the interior towns and districts it would be a farce to apply the name of " Police" at all.

I am aware that the governor has been indu- ced to this measure in compliance with positive instructions, rather than in conformity with his own judgment. But a system in such direct violation of every principle of justice, morality, and expediency, can never be long tolerated. Its continuance, in fact, would soon annihilate all industry, and convert the colony into a den of thieves and murderers, unfit for the abode of virtue and honesty, and dangerous to the government itself which had authorised it. — It is an extreme which cannot endure, and which is of so violent a nature, that it will beget a remedy for itself, and compel the govern-

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 259

ment to recal into their employment, and replace under salutary restraint a set of persons, who ought never to have been freed from it till the expiration of their sentences, or, at mest, till they had given the clearest proof of a sincere reformation. This system, therefore, of grant- ing tickets of leave to convicts shortly after their arrival, though undoubtedly attended with a considerable saving to the government, is of too immoral and dangerous a tendency to be carried to any considerable extent ; so that the expenses of the colony great, unnecessarily great as they are, must infallibly increase with the pro- gress of transportation, so long as the grievous disabilities and impolitic restrictions, under which the colonists are groaning, remain un- re pealed.

Having thus shewn that this colony has hitherto been an increasing burthen to the parent country, and that it must necessarily con- tinue so under its present unwise constitution, I proceed in the next place to prove that its existing system of government is also contra- ventory of the philanthropic intentions, which gave rise to its foundation. The principal object, which the legislature of this country had in view was undoubtedly the reformation of the thousands exiled to these distant shores. The punishment which it thus inflicted, in • 2

260 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

banishing them from their native country, and separating them from their friends and con- nexions, was not the end itself, but the means which it employed, to effect this humane and laudable purpose. Has then the colony in any one point of view realized this comprehen- sive and philanthropic scheme of morality and regeneration ? It has, indeed, proved a receptacle for those whose crimes rendered them unfit for the community, which rejected them from its bosom, and in so far has been of some utility to the public ; but have the restraints to which they have been subjected ; has the system, in fact, by which they have been governed during their exile, generally revived that morality and virtue, the absence of which propelled them in the first instance to the com- mission of crime, and will always continue them in the same career of vice and punishment? Have those, who have expiated their original offence by undergoing the penalty, which the law annexed to it, experienced a reformation in their principles and conduct ? And are they generally qualified either to return to the country that banished them, or to be- come good and useful citizens in the one, by which they have been adopted ; and which, since it has constantly witnessed their deport- ment, can best appreciate the reality and extent of their merits?- Thfr records of the .several

FOR THE I/AST FIFTEEN YEARS. 261

courts of criminal judicature are the surest criterion, by which to judge of this important particular, and will be found decidedly confir- matory of the alarming augmentation of im- morality and crime, which distinguishes every succeeding year, and that too in a proportion far exceeding what would be naturally conse- quent on the increase in the population.

On reference to the Sydney Gazettes for the year 1817, 1 find that there were in all ninety- two persons tried by the criminal court. The offences with which they were charged were as follow : 1st, For murder eleven ; four of whom were convicted and executed : two were ad- judged only guilty of manslaughter ; and five were acquitted. 2dly, For burglaries eight, five of whom were capitally convicted, but their sentences afterwards commuted into tran- sportation to the Coal River for life ; five were transported thither for fourteen years, one for seven years, and one was acquitted. 3dly, For highway robbery one, who was transported to Newcastle for fourteen years. 4thly, One in- cendiary, transported for life. 5thly, One for cutting and maiming, acquitted. 6thly, Nine for cattle stealing : of whom two were capi- tally convicted, their sentence afterwards com- muted into transportation for life ; five wera originally sentenced to the vsame punishment,

262 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

one transported for fourteen years, and one was acquitted. 6thly, Three for sheep stealing : all capitally convicted, but their sentences com- muted into transportation for life. 7thly, Two for horse stealing ; one of whom was capitally convicted, but notexecuted, the other sentenced to solitary confinement. Sthly, One for rape, but acquitted. 9thly, Twenty -seven for pri- vately stealing in dwelling and out-houses ; two of whom were transported for fourteen years, nine for seven years, one for four years, four for three years, two for two years, one sen- tenced to solitary confinement, and six ac- quitted. lOthly, Two for forgery, found guilty, but sentence deferred. 1 Ithly, Two for receiv- ing stolen goods, one of whom was sentenced to the pillory and to four years transportation, and the other to transportation alone for the same period. 12thly, Five for pig stealing ; of whom two were transported to Newcastle for fourteen years, one was flogged and put in the pillory, one transported to Newcastle for two years, and one acquitted. Lastly, Nineteen for petty larceny ; of whom one was sent to Newcastle for four years, one for three years, fourteen were sentenced to various terms of solitary confinement, and three acquitted.

From this statement, therefore, it appears that duringthi year 1817, out of the ninety-two

FOR THK LAST FIFTEEN Vl.AKs.

persons, who were tried for various offences, which it will be seen were for the most part of a heinous nature, no fewer than seventy-three were convicted, fifteen capitally, four of whom were executed, the remaining eleven had their sentences commuted into transportation to the Coal River for life ; — that there were six others originally sentenced to the same punishment ; — that there were five transported for fourteen years, — ten for seven years ; — and that the re- maining thirty-seven were either transported for terms under seven years, or were punished by solitary confinement. Appalling, however, as this catalogue of crime must be acknow- ledged, when compared with that which could be produced in any other community of simi- lar extent, it would still appear on the first view to argue well in favour of the reforma- tory influence of this colony : since Governor Bligh in his examination before the committee of the House of Commons, in the year 1812, presented a document purporting to be a list of criminals tried between August, 1806, and August, 1807, from which it appears that one hundred and seventeen* persons were arraigned before the criminal court during this interval. If we were, therefore, to abide by the records

* Page 42, Appendix to ^e Report of the House of Com- *rif.np. in 181?.

264 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

of the criminal court alone, we should draw the most satisfactory conclusions with respect to the progress of reformation in the morals and habits of the people since that period. The comparison, indeed, between the catalogue of crime in the years 1806 and 1817, would be most gratifying ; as, notwithstanding that the population of the colony had rather more than doubled itself since the former year, the latter presents a decrease in the number of criminals of twenty-five, or, in other words, crime would appear to have diminished in the ratio of about £ to 1. If the records, therefore, of the criminal court were decisive on the subject, it would be impossible not to confess that the system pursued in this colony has fully an- swered the humane intentions, for which it was founded. But unhappily these records are no standard, by which to judge of the reformatory tendency of the system. During Governor Bligh's administration, all offenders, except those who were charged with the most trifling misdemeanors, were tried by the criminal court. He was a second Draco, who considered the smallest offence deserving of death ; and woe to the wretch, whom the criminal court doomed to this punishment, for he invariably carried its sentences into execution. His successor, how- ever, has acted on more merciful principles ; and, besides, crimes have so rapidly multiplied

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS.

of late years, that the judge advocate would not have sufficient time for presiding in the two civil courts of which he is the head, were he obliged to dispose of all the culprits, that might be arraigned in the criminal court. But it is well known to those, who are at all conversant with the state of the colony, that but a very small number of the offences, which are com- mitted there, are now brought under the juris- diction of this court. The majority of the criminals, who are now tried by it, are either free persons, or such as have obtained emanci- pations ; i. e. those whom the various gover- nors have made free in the colony, but who are not at liberty to quit it. The benches of magistrates, and the superintendent of police, are scrupulous of deciding on charges, in which the members of these two free classes are im- plicated ; but they dispose of offenders already under the sentence of the law in a summary manner, either by transporting them to the Coal River, — by putting them inthe gaol gangs, — by sending them (if they happen to be females) to the factory, — or by[simply ordering them cor- poral punishment, unless they are charged with murder, or some capital felony ; and even in this latter case they frequently inflict some summary punishment. With respect to the first of these summary modes of punishment, — transportation to the Coal River, it has already been stated that

266 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

the population of this settlement amounted in the year 1817, to five hundred and fifty souls — of whom not more than one hundred, including the civil and military establishments, and the settlers and their families on the upper banks of the river, were free. The remaining four hundred and fifty, therefore, were persons who had been convict- ed of crimes either by the criminal court, or by the magistracy, and retransported thither for various periods. Those few, it has been seen, who are condemned to this punishment by the criminal court, are for the most part sentenced to long terms of transportation ; but, as nine- tenths of the criminals at this settlement are sent thither either by the benches of magis- trates, or by the superintendent of police, who seldom transport for a longer period than two years, and more frequently for one year, or six months, the population may at a very moderate calculation be considered as undergoing a com- plete change every two years, or,in other words, it may be concluded that two hundred and twenty-five persons are annually transported thither by the magistracy. We must, there- fore, add this number to the culprits convicted before the court of criminal judicature, and we shall then have a total of three hundred and eighteen persons annually convicted of crimes in the colony. This is of itself an alarming sum of criminality ; but we must not stop here, sine*

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS* 267

it only conducts us to the second of the sum- mary modes of punishment which I have enu- merated ; — the gaol gangs. There are upon an average about fifty persons in the gaol gang at Sydney, and about the same number in the gaol gangs belonging to other towns and dis- tricts in the colony. These are criminals convict- ed of smaller offences, than those who are trans- ported to the Coal River; — they are worked from sun -rise to sun-set, and are locked up in the pri- sons during the night. This mode of punish- ment is seldom inflicted for a longer term than four months. It may, therefore, be safely com- puted that these gaol gangs are changed once in this period, or, in other words, that three hundred persons annually pass through this ordeal. This further addition to the formid- able catalogue of crimes already made out, in- creases the total to six hundred and eighteen persons, yet only leads us to the third mode of summary punishment, — labour in the factory at Parramatta. The number of women sen- tenced to this mode of punishment may be com- puted at one hundred and fifty, and, as the ave- raged term of their sentences does not exceed six months, we have a further number of three hundred to add to the above estimate. This in- creases it to nine hundred and eighteen persons ; but we have still one other mode of punishment in petto, — corporal punishment simply ; and J

268 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

have no doubt that the numbers, on whom it is annually inflicted, will at least swell the grand total of persons convicted of various criminal offences during the year 1817, either by the criminal courts, by the benches of magistrates, by the superintendent of police, or by the dis- trict magistrates— to one thousand. We may now draw some sort of a comparison between the amount of crime in the years 1806 and 1817. I should imagine, on the highest calculation, that not more than one hundred persons, in addition to those tried by the criminal court during that year, could, from the system then in practice, have been summarily dealt with by the magis- tracy ; but allowing even that there were two hundred, and that the whole number of persons stated by Governor Bligh to have been tried by that court were found guilty, — a most improba- ble supposition, — the year 1806 will only then give a total of three hundred and sixteen offen- ders, i. e. not one third the amount of those who were convicted in the year 1817. Crime there- fore in the intervening period has been trebled, while the population has only been doubled, or, in other words, the increase of the former has been to the increase of the latteras three to two.

What else, indeed, could have been expected from a system, which is every day enlarging the circle of distress? Is it within the possibility

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 269

of belief that people should become more honest, as they become more necessitous ? That they should scrupulously refrain from making inroads on the possessions of their richer neighbours,while they themselves are suffering under the influence of progressive penury? Under such circumstances it would be the very height of absurdity to ex- pect an increase of virtue and honesty. Wherever it is not within the compass of industry to pro- vide for its wants, a recourse to crime, in order to make up the deficiency, is inevitable to a certain extent even in a moral country. What then must be the result of this inability in a felon population, long habituated to theft, and na- turally predisposed to criminality ? In a com- munity so constituted, the government are doubly bound to neglect no measures, which may be calculated to repress this vicious pro- pensity. If they adopt the contrary line of conduct, if they administer stimulants to vice instead of anodynes, if they, in fact, create incitements to dishonesty too potent even for virtuous misery to withstand, are not they — the authors of a system thus impregnated with cor- ruption, virtually the parent of the monstrous litter to which it gives birth ? And though, according to the inflexible principles of justice, any violation of the property of another is not to be exculpated, humanity will always pity the distressed delinquent, and wish that she.

270 INFLUENCE OP THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

had the power of substituting the primary author of the crime in the place of the con- demned criminal. How would the world be reformed, if the framers of the unjust and impolitic laws, which are every where the bane of mankind, and the cause of so much misery and vice, were arraigned at the bar of justice, and compelled to answer for all the depravity, that might be traced to the demoralizing influ- ence of their measures ?

The picture of the colony, which I have pre - sented, aggravated as it is, faithfully delineates the different descending gradations, by which it has sunk to its present abyss of misery, and is of itself sufficiently demonstrative of the radical defect there is in its polity, and of the necessity for an alteration in it : — neverthe- less, it may not be altogether inexpedient to dive a little into futurity, and to view through the mirror of the imagination the further re- sults, which the experience of the past may convince us that a perseverance in the same course of restriction and disability will infallibly lead to. It requires not the gift of divination to foresee that the manufacturing system, which has already taken such deep root, and so rapidly shot up towards maturity, will still further confirm and consolidate itself with the increasing poverty of the community. For

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS.

several years the importation of British manu- factures, particularly of cottons, has been com- paratively speaking on the decline, in conse- quence of the competition occasioned by large importations of those articles from India; which, though in general of inferior quality, have been more adapted to the circumstances of the colo- nists from their inferior price. The consump- tion of hato and woollen cloths has also been diminished, but not to the same considerable extent, by the colonial manufactures of the same denomination, which are likewise much inferior to the British, but have the two-fold advantage of being cheaper, and to be obtained for wool, grain, meat, &c. without the intervention of money, which it is generally out of the power of the consumers to furnish.

This system of barter, which has materially favoured their growth, and must necessarily still further encourage and extend it, is not, as might at first be imagined, prejudicial to the manufacturer ; since the wool, which he thus receives in exchange for his commodity, is the raw material required for its reproduction, and therefore saves him the trouble of seeking it in other quarters ; and the meat, grain, &c. are distributed among his workmen at the market prices of the day, and free him from the necessity of paying the full value of their

272 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

labour in money, which under existing circum- stances would most probably be impracticable. The system itself, therefore, seems to have been engendered by events, and to be peculiarly adapted to the present state of poverty and wretchedness, to which the great mass of the colonists are reduced. And although in other countries, and even in this, if its agricultural powers were unfettered, the workmen em- ployed in the fabrication of these manufactures would not perhaps consent to receive this mixed compensation for their labour, yet amidst the actual difficulties of procuring a subsistence, and possessed as they are of trades, for which till lately there was no demand whatever, and for which at the present moment there is far from an active competition, they are not only glad to accept this mode of payment, but would even submit to much harder conditions. It may, therefore, be perceived, that if the manu- facturer can sell for ready money as much of his commodity, as is requisite to the pay- ment of the residue of their wages, and at the same time equivalent to the profit, which he may derive from his concern, it is all that he need absolutely require. This manufactur- ing system being thus not only suited to the increasing poverty of the community at large, but likewise favourable to the interests of all the parties concerned in it, whether the proprietors

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 273

or the workmen, cannot but gain ground. A few years, in fact, will completely put it out of the power of at least seven-eighths of the population to have recourse to the manufactures of this country. The expenses of the colony will, indeed, as I have satisfactorily proved, continue to increase, but still only in proportion to the augmentation in the body of convicts and others maintained at the charge of the govern- ment ; while, on the contrary, the population of the colony, in spite of all the checks imposed on it, will be extending itself more rapidly within, than by transportation and emigra- tion from without. Its revenue, therefore, will be every year to be divided among a number of competitors increasing much more rapidly than itself. Thus their ability to pur- chase the more perfect, and expensive commo- dities of this country, will become daily more circumscribed ; — till at length the use of them will be entirely superseded, or, at best, confined to the higher orders of society, who, it is pro- bable, may be induced in the long run both by the growing perfection of their native manu- factures, and by patriotism, to abjure the con- sumption of all goods, that may have a ten- dency to augment the prosperity of their common oppressor. The colonists, in fact, have only to advance a few steps further in the manufacturing system to be completely inde-

274 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

pendent of foreign supply. Already fabri- cating to a considerable extent their own cloth, the first perhaps of manufactures in utility and importance; already furnishing in a great mea- sure their own hats, leather, soap, candles, and earthenware, they have only to provide their own linen, and to erect iron founderies, to become possessed of all that can be termed strictly necessary to their subsistence, and even comfort. And these two objects will doubtless be soon effected by the active agency of the same powerful necessity, which has so rapidly given rise to the various manufactures already mentioned. It is, indeed, rather a matter of surprise than otherwise, that attempts have not been already made to establish manufac- tories* of these two highly important articles; since the colony, on the one hand, is peculiarly adapted to the growth of flax, and, on the other, abounds, as it has been seen, with iron ore of the richest quality.

To what feelings, then, to what conduct, it may be asked, will this independence in the resources of the colonists, the bitter fruit of so much privation and misery, give birth ? Will this, the painful result of so many years' injustice and oppression, tend to strengthen the bond of union between the colony and this country ? Or will it not be the crisis that will sever it for

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 275

ever ? England, placed as she is at present on the pinnacle of glory, and reposing in security on the basis of that commercial and maritime greatness, from which the gigantic efforts of united Europe have not been able to remove her, may laugh to scorn the presumption of any colony, however powerful, that might attempt to shake off her authority. Like Jupiter on Olympus, she has only to stretch out her hand and overthrow the united force of all her colo- nies with the chain, to which she has bound their destinies. No one can doubt, that such an attempt would be preposterous at the present moment, nor would the most strenuous advo- cate for colonial independence, the most vio- lent enemy to the supremacy of this country, dream of its immediate execution. Still let her not lull herself into a false security ; let her not measure the forbearance of the colony by its own impotency and insignificance. Despair always begets resources, and inspires an unna- tural vigor. The enmity of the most feeble becomes formidable, when it has justice ranged under its banners, and ought not to be excited without necessity. Besides, is it worthy the character of a nation, who has evinced herself the determined enemy of tyrants, and the assertor of the freedom of the world, to become the oppressor of her own subjects, and that too for the mere sake of oppression, in subversion T 2

27G INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

alike of their interests and of her own ? Has she not, and will she not always have external enemies eno^i to contend with, without thus creating, unnecessarily creating, domestic ones ? Let her from the midst of the glory, with which she is environed, compare her situation, bril- liant and imposing as it is, with what it might have been ; — let her look at the consequences of her former injustice. Is not the most formida- ble on the list of her enemies, a nation, which might have this day been the most attached and faithful of her friends ? A nation, which, instead of watching every occasion to circum- scribe her power, would, if its rights had been respected, have been still embodied with her empire and confirmatory of her strength? Will this terrible lesson have no influence on the regulation of her future conduct ? Will not this dear bought experience teach her wisdom ? Or has she yet to learn that the reign of injus- tice and tyranny involves in its very constitu- tion the germ of its duration and punishment ? Let her ask herself, " what would have been the " consequence if, during the late war with " America, the ports of this colony had been <( open to the vessels of that nation ?" How many hundreds of the valuable captures, which the Americans made in the Indian seas and on the coast of Pern, might have safely awaited there the termination of the war, which were

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 277

recaptured by her cruisers in view of the ports of their country ? How many hundreds of their own vessels, that shared the same fate, would have still belonged to their merchants ? And is there no probability, that a perseverance in the present system of injustice and oppression may, on some future occasion, urge the colonists to shake off this intolerable yoke, and throw them- selves into the arms of so powerful a protector ? May they n ot by these means acquire indepen- dence long before the epoch, when they would have obtained it by their own force and matu- rity ? Or at least may they not place themselves under the government of more just and consi- derate rulers ? How would this country repent her folly, if she should thus become the instru- ment of her own abasement ; if she should herself be the cause of establishing a power, al- ready the most formidable rival of her commer- cial and maritime ascendency, in the very heart of her most valuable possessions, at the main external source of her wealth and prosperity ?

To those who are acquainted with the local situation of this colony. — -who have traversed the formidable chain of mountains by which it is bounded from north to south, — who have viewed the impregnable natural positions, that the only connecting ridge, by which a passage into the interior can be effected, every where

278 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

presents, — to those who are aware that this ridge is in many places not more than thirty feet in width, and have beheld the terrific chasms by \fhich it is bounded, chasms inaccessible to the most agile animal of the forest, and that will for ever defy the approach of man, — to those. I say, who are acquainted with all these cir- cumstances, the independence of this colony, should it be goaded into rebellion, appears neither so problematical nor remote, as might otherwise be imagined. Of what avail would whole armies prove in these terrible defiles, which only five or six men could approach abreast ? What would be the effect of artil- lery on advancing columns crowded into so narrow a compass ? A few minutes exposure to such a dreadful carnage, would annihilate the assailing army ; or, at best, only preserve its scattered remnants from destruction by raising an intervening barrier of the carcases of its slaughtered martyrs. If the colonists should prudently abandon the defence of the sea coast, and remove with their flocks and herds into the fertile country behind these impregnable pas- ses, what would the force of England, gigantic as it is, profit her ? She might, indeed, if they were unassisted in their efforts by any foreign power, cut off their communication for awhile with the coast ; but her armies entirely depend- ent on external supply, and at so great a dis-

FOB THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 279

tance from the centre of their resources, would gradually moulder away, as well by the in- cessant operation of a partisan warfare, as by defection to their adversaries, whom her troops would be led to combat only with regret* They would not enter into a war of this descrip- tion with the same animosity, and desire of ven- geance, that might actuate their leaders. They wouldjbehold in their opponents, Britons, or the, decendants of Britons, placed in hostile array against them unwillingly, and not from any an- cient and inveterate spirit of hatred and rivality, but from constrained resistance to tyranny, and in vindication of their most sacred arid indu- bitable rights. Nor would they, in the midst of their disgust for so unjust and unnatural a contest, behold the beauty and fertility of the country, without drawing a comparison between their condition, and what it would be, were they to quit the ranks of oppression, and to become the champions of that independence, which they were destined to repress. Such will be the consequences of the impolitic and oppressive system of government pursued in this colony ; such the probable results of the contest, to which it must eventually give rise. If I have been unqualified in expressing my reprobation of such unwise and unjust mea- sures;— if I have evinced myself the fearless as- sertor of the rights of my compatriots ; — and if

I have spoke without reserve of the resistance, which the violation and suppression of those rights will in the end occasion, — I must never- theless protest against being classed among those who are the sworn enemies of all authority, and who place the happiness of communities in a freedom from those restraints, which the wisdom of ages has established, and demon- strated to be salutary and essential. I hope, therefore, that my principles will not be mis- taken, and that I shall not be exposed to the hue and cry, which have been justly raised against those persons, who are inimical to all existing institutions. There is not a more sin- cere friend to established government and legi- timacy than he, who mildly advocates the cause of reform, and points out with decency the excrescences that will occasionally rise on the political body, as well from an excess of liberty as of restraint : — such a person may pre- vent anarchy ; he can never occasion it.

These are the views by which I have been actuated in writing this work. If my hopes should be realized, if I should happily be the means of averting the thunder cloud of cala- mity and destruction, which is even now gather- ing on the horizon of my country, and threat- ens at no very remote period to burst over her head, and to scatter death and desolation in

FOR TUB LAST FIFTEEN YEAllS. 281

her bosom, it is all the recorri pence I seek. If my efforts should unfortunately prove abortive, if I should fail to rouse the friends of peace and humanity to her succour and relief, I shall have experienced a sufficient mortification, without undergoing the additional one of being classed with a band of ruffian levellers, who, under the specious pretext of salutary reform, seek, like the jacobin revolutionists of France, the subversion of all order, and the substitution in its stead, of a reign of terror, anarchy, and rapine, amidst the horrors of which they may satiate their avarice, and glut their revenge. Let then the purity of my motives be unim- peached, if I should be defeated in the accom- plishment of my object. But why should I despair of success, when I have every support that ought to ensure it ? Right, reason, expe- diency, morality, religion, are all on the side of my oppressed country, and must eventually procure the termination of her sufferings. The disabilities, indeed, under which she has been so long groaning, grounded as they are in no motives of policy, but averse to them «//, ought to be ascribed rather to inadvertence than de- sign. Engaged as this country has been in a tremendous conflict, on the dubious issue of which her very existence as a nation was staked, she has had little or no leisure for attending to the internal economy of her colonies. In

282 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

the midst of her own unparalleled sufferings and sacrifices, theirs have been disregarded or forgotten. It is the knowledge of this circum- stance that has shed a ray of hope and conso- lation athwart the gloom, which .has been thickening year after year around the colony. It is this consideration that has enabled its in- habitants to support burdens, which would other- wise have been found intolerable. Let then their just expectations be at length fulfilled, and let them not continue the only portion of the king's subjects, who have no personal rea- son to rejoice at the happy termination of this long and arduous contest. Their moderation and forbearance under their grievances, have given them an additional claim to redress, scarcely less forcible than the existence of those grievances themselves. Yet already years have elapsed, since the consolidation of general peace and tranquillity, and no attention has been paid to their situation and remonstrances. Al- ready, therefore, the spirit of discontent so long repressed by hope, but reviving with the progress of this unnecessary, this unaccount- able delay, has begun to manifest itself, and will soon assume a determinate shape and form. Let the government repress this feeling of hostility, while they have yet the power : — a few years further inattention will render it hereditary and rivet it for ever. It is in the

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 283

tendency of colonies to overstep even legi- timate restraint ; they will never long wear the fetters of injustice and oppression. I am aware that it is not one of the least diffi- cult proofs of legislative wisdom to frame regulations adapted to each progressive stage of colonization, and that this difficulty increases with the maturity, which the colony in ques- tion may have attained: — but, although the treatment of colonies, upon their arrival at that degree of ascendency, when the enforcement of ancient restrictions, founded on the interests, or supposed interests of the parent country, but contraventory of the prosperity of the colo- nies themselves, becomes dangerous or imprac- ticable, is, it must be allowed, a point of ex- treme delicacy and tenderness ; there can at no time be any doubt entertained of the propriety of abandoning a system founded upon error and injustice, and productive of detriment as well to those who have imposed it, as to those who are suffering under its baneful operation. It is therefore to be hoped that so unwise and unjust a system will no longer be continued ; that his majesty's government will at length allow the colonists to use freely the natural pro- ductions of their country, and to increase to the utmost its artificial ones; that they will permit them to call their own energies, their own resources, into life and action, and no longer

284 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

impoverish them by rendering them the prey of richer colonies, and, what is still more absurd and vexatious, of foreigners ; that they will, in tine, grant them the free unrestricted enjoy- ment of those privileges, which the bounty of the Creator has extended to them, and which it is not in any human authority to withhold, consistently with the eternal, immutable princi- ples of right and equity.

These privileges consist in the removal of certain agricultural and commercial restraints, which I shall hereafter separately enumerate ; and in a free government, under the protecting shade of which, the colonists may fearlessly exercise and enjoy their personal and private rights without molestation or hindrance.

I have now hastily sketched the principal incidents, which have characterised the march of this colony, during the last fifteen years. If I have neglected representing its more early efforts ; if I have excluded from view the amazing difficulties and privations with which its immediate founders had to contend ; if, in fine, I have altogether omitted in the picture the numerous interesting events, that took place during the first fifteen years of its esta- blishment, I have been induced to all these omissions by a conviction, that the existing system of government, if not the most eligible

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 285

that could have been devised, was at least un- productive of those glaring ill consequences, with which it has subsequently been attended. A singleness of design and a unity of action, could not be deviated from during the period of its infancy by the most ignorant and in- expert bungler in political science. There was a broad path open to its government, which it could not possibly mistake. The colony as yet entirely dependent on external supplies, always precarious from their very nature, but rendered still more so by a tedious, and at that time almost unexplored navigation, would unavoidably turn its whole attention to the single object of raising food, and eman- cipating itself, as soon as possible, from so un- certain and dangerous a dependence. The principle of fear would have sufficed to pro- pel [the colonists to a spontaneous application of their strength to the realization of this end, independently of any directing power what- ever. It was, therefore, only on the attain- ment of this important point, that the impo- licy of the present form of government became a matter of speculation, and subsequently, that it has been demonstrated by its practical result, — the wretched situation to which it has re- duced a colony, that might be made, as I shall satisfactorily establish, one of the most useful and flourishing appendages of the empire. It is

286 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

«t the epoch, when the produce of the colonists began to exceed the demand, and when their industry, instead of being encouraged and directed into new channels of profitable occu- pation, was not only left to its own blind un- guided impulse, but also placed under the most impolitic and oppressive restrictions, that I have taken up the pencil, and made a rapid, but faithful delineation of the deplorable con- sequences, that have been attendant on a conca- tenation of injudicious and absurd disabilities, which, though not altogether imposed by its immediate government, would have been easily removed by the more weighty influence of a combined representative legislature. I have, therefore, all along considered the local government not only responsible for its own impolitic conduct, but also for the existence of those grievances, which have been created by a higher authority, and of which it has wanted the will or the power to procure the re- peal. I have commenced by glancing at some of the most striking events that ancient history affords, to prove that the prosperity of nations has kept pace with the degree of freedom en- joyed by their citizens, and that their deca- dence and eventual overthrow have been in- variably occasioned by a selfish and over- whelming despotism. Descending to more modern times, and adverting to the condi-

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 287

\

tion of existing nations, I have shewn that the unparalleled power and affluence of our own country, which I have selected out of them by way of exemplification, are solely to be attributed to the superior freedom of her laws, which have engendered her a freer, more virtuous, and more warlike race of people. From these striking illustrations, this steady coincidence of cause and effect, deduced from the records of the greatest among ancient and modern empires, I have concluded that every community, which has not a free government, is devoid of that security of person and pro- perty, that has been found to be the chief sti- mulus to individual exertion, and the only basis on which the social edifice can repose in a solid and durable tranquillity. That the system of government adopted in the colony of New South Wales does not rest on this founda- tion stone of private right and public pros- perity,— I have proved from the detestable tyranny and consequent arrest of a governor, whose conduct, even anterior to his being in- trusted with this important charge, it will have been seen, was such as might have led without any extraordinary powers of discrimination to a prediction of the catastrophe that befel him. The atrocities perpetrated by this monster, and the events to which they gave rise, will have been sufficient to convince the most incre-

288 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

dulous, that the colonists have no guarantee for the undisturbed enjoyment of their rights and liberties, but the impartiality and good plea- sure of their governor ; and that they have no resource, but in rebellion, against the unprinci- pled attacks and unjustifiable inroads of arbi- trary power. So radically defective, indeed, is the government to which they are subjected in its very constitution, that it not only holds out, in the uncontrolled authority which it vests in the hands of an individual, the strongest temp- tations for the exercise of tyranny to those who may habitually possess an overbearing and des- potic temperament, but has also a manifest ten- dency, as history amply attests, to vitiate the heart, and to produce a spirit of injustice and oppression in those, who may have been antece- dently distinguished by a well regulated and humane disposition. While it is thus, on the one hand, calculated to beget the most mons- trous atrocities within the sphere of its jurisdic- tion, I have shewn that it has not, on the other, been invested by the power, to whom it owes its origin and existence, with the ability to per- form any extended good ; and that, while it involves in its essence all the elements of de- struction, it possesses no one principle of vitality. Of this assertion the administration of Gover- nor Macquarie, who, if one may judge from the length of time, during which he has held this

TOR THK LAST FIFTEEN VliAHS. 289

high office, would appear to possess a greater portion of the confidence of his majesty's minis- ters, than any of his predecessors, furnishes an indubitable proof: for relieved as the mind of the reader will have been from the undivided indigna- tion, disgust, and abhorrence, which the excesses committed in the foregoing government could fail to excite, by a review of the prudence and moderation by which his career has been contra- distinguished, he will nevertheless have beheld the colony, from the want of privileges, of which this gentleman has not possessed suffi- cient influence to procure the authorization, sinking in spite of his upholding hand, from a comparative state of affluence and comfort, to the lowest depth of poverty and endurance. He will have seen the colonists checked in their agricultural pursuits rushing promiscuously into every avenue of internal industry that lay open to them, and afterwards constructing vessels, and not only exploring every known shore, within the limits of their territory, in search of sandal wood, but even discovering unknown islands abounding with seals. He will have seen them exhausting these temporary sources of relief, and attempting, but obliged to desist by the weight of impolitic imposts, both internal and external, from those inexhaustible foun- tains of wealth, the valuable whale fisheries in the adjacent seas. He will have seen them,

u

290 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

from inability to purchase the more costly commodities of other countries, making the most astonishing exertions in manufactures, and thus impelled by necessity to the adoption of a svstem not more averse to the interests

•/

of the parent country than to their own ; and which, under a well regulated government,would have been one of the last effects of maturity and civilization. He will have seen, notwith- standing these vigorous and unnatural efforts, numbers of them bending every day beneath the pressure of embarrassment, and at length stripped of their lands, and deprived of their freedom, by a set of rapacious and unprincipled dealers, who are gradually rendering them- selves masters of the persons and property of the agriculturists ; the greater part of whom, if the present system continue a few years longer, will be virtually reduced to a state of bondage, and condemned to minister to the ease and en- joyments of the worthless and the vile. He will have seen that, while the poorer settlers have already in general fallen victims to the unjust and impolitic disabilities with which they are beset, the circle of distress has extended itself from these, the central body of the com- munity, to its circumference; and that the im- ports have so constantly preponderated in the balance over the united weight of the income and exports, that the whole wealth of the co-

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 291

lony has been continually flowing into foreign countries, for the payment -of the necessary commodities furnished by them, leaving no money in circulation for the important purposes of domestic economy, and compelling the co- lonists, by a general, constrained, and tacit con- vention, to tolerate, as a substitute for a legi- timate circulating medium, a currency possessed of no intrinsic value whatever. He will have seen this rapid torrent of distress forcibly driving back the tide of population, both by the difficulties which it throws in the way of rear- ing up a family, and by the numerous bodies of freed convicts, which it propels to a return to their native country, — the greater part of whom, more from necessity than choice, are led to a resumption of their ancient habits, in order to procure a subsistence, and either im- pose on the government the expense of re- transporting them to this colony, or end their career of iniquity by falling victims to the ven- geance of the laws, which they had so often vio- lated. He will have seen, during these conti- nual and violent concussions, by which the whole social edifice has been shaken to the foundation, that the expenditure of the colony has been in a state of the most rapid increase, and that the existing system of government is incompa- tible with its diminution. He will, in fine, have been satisfied that the immorality and vice,

u 2

298 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

which it was the main object of the legislature to repress and extirpate, are making the most alarming progress and extension.

1 ' i '!"',••

Looking a little beyond these, the actual re- sults of the present order of things, he will have found that it is affording the most efficacious assistance and encouragement to the perfection of the manufacturing system, already in a state of considerable advancement, and that a few years more will so greatly circumscribe the means of the colonists, that the majority of them will be entirely excluded from the use of foreign commodities, and compelled to content themselves with the homely products of their own ingenuity ; and that thus not only one of the great ends of colonization, the creation of a market for the consumption of the manufac- tures of the parent country, will be defeated by her own impolitic conduct, but also a spirit of animosity will be engendered by the recollec- tion of the privations and sufferings encountered by the colonists in their tedious and painful march to this unnatural independence in their resources ; — a spirit which will be handed down from father to son, acquiring in its descent fresh force, and settling at length into an hereditary hatred, which it will no longer be in the power of the government to extinguish, and which will propel them, whenever an opportunity

FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS. 293

offers, to renounce the coniroul of such unwise and unfeeling masters.

Passing from this gloomy picture of vexa- tious tyranny and unmerited suffering, he will now proceed to the more grateful contempla- tion of the remedies that are proposed, as a cure for the present evils, and as a preventive to the future tremendous eruption with which the existing system, a mountainous agglomeration of impolicy and barbarity, is so fatally preg- nant. He will be satisfied that the application of the restoratives prescribed, will both re-inte- grate the agricultural body, now in the last stage of debility and consumption, and impart fresh life and vigour into the commercial, which is equally impaired ; and that while the parent country will by these means restore the tone and energies of the colony, she will be contributing in the most effectual manner to her own strength and greatness. He will be persuaded that all these most desirable ends will inevitably follow the establishment of a free representative government ; and that, however salutary the adoption of the measures proposed may be, un- accompanied with that internal power of legis- lation, from which they would have eventually proceeded, they will of themselves be utterly inadequate to effect a perfect and permanent cure for the existing evils ; and that nothing

294 INFLUENCE OF THE SYSTEM, &C.

short of a local legislature properly constituted can on the one hand either inspire into capitalists that confidence, which is essential to the free unimpeded extension of industry, or be com- petent on the other, to provide an instant relief for those growing wants, which spring out of the progress of advancement, and are contingent on those changes of circumstances and situation, to which incipient communities are so peculiarly liable. He will, in fine, be convinced even to demonstration, that the erection of a free government in the colony of New South Wales will be a panacea for all its sufferings; that it is the only measure which can ease this country of the enormous burden which it will otherwise entail on her, and save the unspent millions that will be ingulphed, uselessly in- gulphed, in the devouring vortex of the pre- sent system ; and that the creation of an export trade of raw materials, and the consequent ex- tended consumption of her manufactures, which the proposed change of government would su- perinduce, are the only means by which she can ever repay herself for the immense expense that she has lavished on this colony, as well during the period of its really helpless infancy, as du-- ring the still longer interval of its restrained growth and compulsory imbecility.

( 295 )

PART III.

Various Alterations suggested in the present Policy of this Colony.

OF all the steps that could be taken for the relief of the cojony, none certainly would prove of such immediate efficacy, as the creation of dis- tilleries, and the imposition of so high a duty on the importation of spirits from abroad, as would amount to a prohibition. The advan- tages that would be attendant on this measure may, perhaps, be most forcibly illustrated by a short review of the actual loss, which the colonists have sustained, during the last fifteen years, from the want of its adoption. The spirits imported, during this period, may be

• safely estimated on an average at the annual value of £10,000,* amounting in fifteen years

..to the sum of £150,000: and if we add to this £100,000 more, which it may be calculated that the government have expended in this interval

* At present the value of spirits* imported annually into the

colony cannot be estimated at less than .£25,000.

•

296 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

in the importation of corn, flour, rice,, &c. from other countries, we have a grand total of ,£250,000, that would have been saved to the colony by the erection of distilleries. The application of so large a sum to the immediate encouragement of agriculture would have im- parted life and vigour into the whole community, and would have effectually prevented that in- creasing poverty, and the black train of evils consequent on it, which I have already depicted. And, although from the increased demand for foreign luxuries, which so great an addition to the colonial income would have naturally oc- casioned, but a small part perhaps of this sum would have eventually continued in general circulation, still the means of the colonists would at least have been brought to a level with their wants ; and a sterling circulating medium would have remained sufficient for all the pur- poses of domestic economy. Under such cir- cumstances there can be little doubt that the active and enterprizing spirit of our country- men would have long since effected the esta- blishment of an export trade, which would have freed the colony from future embarrass- ment, and the mother country from the enor-' mous expense which she is annually forced to incur in its support. But the continual and amazing fluctuations), which have taken place in the price of corn, have been a death-blow to

•

THE PRUSUNT POLICY OF 'I'HIS COLONY. 297

the success of every effort, that has been directed to this most important object. At least but one out of all the numerous attempts, that have been made by individuals, (for none have been made by the government,) to raise various ar- ticles of export, has realized the expectations of its sagacious author, and promises to become eventually of permanent relief and importance to the colony. But it will be more in the order of the arrangement, which I have marked out for myself, to treat of this very important sub- ject hereafter: — I recur, therefore, to the con- clusion, which I was about to draw from the foregoing premises ; that to the perfect success of every enterprize of a manual nature, it is essential that the price of provisions in general, but of corn in particular, should be reduced to such a point as to afford a fair profit to the grower; and, at the same time, that it should not be subject to any such extraordinary rise as to superinduce a proportionate increase in the price of labour. To keep the value of corn in this just mean, it is necessary that the growth of 'it should be encouraged to a pitch far beyond the sphere of the ordinary demand ; and this is to be effected generally in two ways, viz. by augmenting the internal consumption by artificial means, as by breweries, distilleries, &c. and by permitting a free exportation of the surplus. But the colony is at present un-

298 VARIOUS ALTKKATIO.NS SUGGESTED IN

able from the srnallness of its resources and its remoteness from Europe, the great mart for the surplus corn of other countries, to become a competitor with them in this branch of com- merce : — it follows, therefore, that the constant abundance of corn indispensable to the establish- ment, and maintenance of an export trade, can only be guaranteed by the enforcement of all such measures, as have a tendency to increase internal consumption ; and of these I again re- peat that the erection of distilleries, &c. is the most easy and the most efficacious.

Independently of this general reasoning, which is equally applicable to all countries, the colony can unhappily furnish, in the unfortunate localities of its agricultural settlements, parti- cular grounds of argument, that render the adoption of this measure of still more impera- tive necessity. Allured to the banks of the river Hawkesbury, both by the superiority of the soil, and the facilities, which the naviga- tion of this river afforded for the conveyance of produce to market,— a circumstance of material advantage even at this moment, but of incalcu- lable importance at a period, when as yet there were few or no cattle for0 the purposes of land carriage, — -the first colonists were encouraged by Governor Phillip to establish themselves on this low fertile tract of country, not so much

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 299

perhaps from choice as necessity. His succes- sors, influenced in part by the same consider- ations, followed his example in directing the current of colonization into the same channel ; — till, in the lapse of about fifteen years, the whole of the fertile lands on the banks of this river were completely appropriated. Thus, unfortu- nately for the colony, its principal agricultural establishment was formed in a situation subject to the inundations of a river, whose waters frequently rise seventy or eighty feet above its ordinary level.

The present governor, to his lasting honour be it mentioned, has done all that prudence could effect with the limited means confided to him, for the prevention of the calamities in- variably consequent on these destructive inun- dations. He has placed the great mass of the colonists, who have been settled during his administration in districts that are not subject to flood ; thus securing to themselves and the community at large the fruits of their industry. He has also established townships on the high grounds, which generally at the distance of a mile or two from the river border its low fertile banks, and has held out various encourage- ments, in order to induce the settlers to remove their houses and stacks to them. The richer class have, in most instances, been alive to their

300 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

own interests, and have abandoned their ancient abodes on the verge of the river : so that the destruction occasioned by future floods will be infinitely less extensive. But still a great part of the poorer class adhere to their ancient habitations, impelled by the double motive of avoiding the cost of carrying their crops to these townships and from thence back again to the river, in order to send them to market by the boats, which ply on it for this purpose. And to such as have not horses and carts of their own, and would consequently be obliged to hire them, a residence on the banks of the river is a saving of greater magnitude, than might be at first imagined.

The greatest obstacle to the complete reali- 2ation of the governor's project, arises from the extreme poverty of the great body of the settlers, occasioned, as I have already noticed, by the limited and precarious market afforded for their produce. To build a house, however small, is an undertaking in this colony as every where else, which can only be effected with adequate means ; and if the colonists do not resort in crowds to these townships, it is not because they are insensible to the advantages, which they would derive from a removal to these seats of security, but because their penury chains them to their present dangerous and

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 301

miserable hovels, and compels them in spite of their better reason to hold their lives and pro- perty on the most precarious of all tenures, — the caprice of the elements. But could the gover- nor succeed in this, his project to the utmost, could he induce every settler on the banks of the Hawkesbury to remove to these townships, he would be still far from guaranteeing the colony from the calamitous effects of these inundations ; since they are not periodical, like the risings of the Nile, but happen at all times, as well when the crops are in stack, as when growing, when they are in the infancy of vege- tation, as when they have attained maturity, and are fit for the sickle. Some other expedient, therefore, would still be necessary to guard against those inundations, which may happen at such disastrous periods ; and there is but one that will be found sufficient at all times and under all circumstances. It is to encourage by artificial means the growth of corn so far beyond what is necessary for the bare purposes of food, that in years of scarcity, whether arising from flood or drought, these artificial channels of consumption may be stopped, and the whole of the corn in the colony appropriated to the supply of the inhabitants. And this encou- ragement would be amply afforded by the establishment of distilleries; since, allowing the colony to require ninety thousand gallons of

302 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

spirits annually, thirty thousand bushels of grain would be expended in distillation, the whole of which, when necessity required, might be diverted from its ordinary course of con- sumption, and directed to the single purpose of subsistence.

These advantages, great as they must be allowed to be, are not the only ones that would follow the erection of distilleries. This mea- sure would still further promote the prosperity of the agricultural body, by creating in the market a competition with the government for the purchase of grain, and would thus destroy the maximum, that has been hitherto arbitrarily assigned as an equivalent for their produce, generally, without reference to the state of the crops, whether they have been productive or otherwise. The prejudicial operation of this maximum was noticed in the Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons made in the year 1812, and the propriety of devising some remedy for this evil strongly enforced; but this recommendation has hitherto been disregarded, from the want, perhaps, of information sufficiently precise to enable the government of this country to attend to it.

I close the catalogue of arguments, which I adduce in support of this measure, with the last

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 303

and most powerful of them all, — its beneficial influence on the morality of the rising genera- tion. I do not so much take into calculation its probable bearing on the existing race of colonists, the greater part of whom are, and will, perhaps, always be more or less addicted to the pernicious habits contracted in their early days of riot and debauchery, — as on their poste- rity, who will necessarily soon form the majo- rity of this colony, and whose amelioration or reformation all legislative measures should have principally in view. With those the immode- rate use of spirituous liquors is a long con- tracted disease, which it is perhaps past the skill of legislation to cure. It is like an old inveterate ulcer, whose roots have penetrated into the seats of vitality, and are so intimately interwoven with the very principles of existence, that the knife cannot be applied to the extirpa- tion of the one, without occasioning the de- struction of the other. But, though this gan- grene can never be entirely eradicated, the experience of late years has shewn that it may be prevented from increasing, and even consi- derably reduced. Drunkenness has been observed to be less frequent, since an unlimited importa- tion of spirits was permitted, even among that class, who were most addicted to this vice, during the long period, when the importation was in a great measure restricted, the price of

304 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS Sl'GGl:STED I!f

liquor exorbitantly enhanced, and the conse- quent difficulty of obtaining it much more considerable. Great, therefore, as are the pre- sent facilities to the indulgence of this propen- sity, they should be still further extended, and this would be effected by internal distillation ; for, although the importation of spirits from other countries has been, for many years past, subject to no restriction, but the payment of a certain duty, which would be equally levied on all spirits made in the colony, still the expense of freight, insurance, &c. would be avoided, the price proportionably abated, and the means of indulgence increased in the same ratio.

The immediate effect of this free circulation of spirits having been so beneficial, we may easily infer what would be its remote conse- quences; and it is to these, to the gradual de- velopment of moral perfection, that all laws, framed with a reference to this end should be directed, and not to sudden and violent reformations, which are seldom or never at- tended with the desired results. It was, indeed, natural to expect that this pernicious drug would be depreciated, in the estimation of its consumers, in exact proportion to its super- abundance ; and, although the removal of ail restriction to the importation of spirits might in its immediate beneficial operation on the

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 305

morals of the existing generation, so long cur- tailed in the use of them, and so long habituat- ed to excess, whenever occasion offered, have been a matter of serious speculation, before this experiment was tried, its immediate result has far out-stripped the expectations of its most sanguine supporters. The present influence of this measure having been so satisfactory, there cannot be a doubt that the effect of internal distillation on the morality of future genera- tions will be still more salutary and decisive. It is well known that in those countries which are* celebrated [for the production of wines and spirits, as France, Spain, Italy, &c. so great is the sobriety of the people, that a drunken per- son is an object of contempt, and a sight which is but very seldom witnessed. This sobriety, therefore, can only be the consequence of a steady equable supply, which induces mode- rate enjoyment, without holding out any temp- tation to excessive indulgence. And, however strange or unaccountable this fact may at first appear, the reason of it may be traced to the nature of man, the same inconsistent creature in all ages and in all countries. Intervening obstacles to enjoyment, far from repressing his desires, serve but to stimulate and inflame them ; and so perverse and capricious is he in his conduct, that he despises, or at best holds in but secondary estimation the real substan-

306 VAK10US ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

tial good that is within his grasp ; while remote or unattainable objects fire his ambition, and swell into fanciful and preposterous propor- tions,— treacherous illusions of a fertile ima- gination, which possession alone can dissipate and reduce to their proper standard and value. It is thus that lofty mountains seem to connect themselves with the heavens by enveloping clouds ; but, stripped of their deceptious covering, they stand reduced to their primitive dimen- sions, the blue vault towers far above their heads, and the eye sees and defines their just limits and magnitude.

There can be but one objection urged against the establishment of colonial distilleries ; — that it will deprive the resident merchants in In- dia, from whence by far the greater propor- tion of spirits is at present imported into the colony, of this branch of commerce. The trade, however, of that country is on too extensive a scale, to be perceptibly affected by so trifling a restriction, which, in fact, has always existed till within the last five years ; as the importa- tion of spirits, till that period, was always sub- ject to limitation, and only permitted by express licence. But, were the case otherwise, what right has one portion of the empire to look for aggrandisement at the expense of another? Ought the welfare and happiness of twenty-

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 307

five thousand persons to be sacrificed in order to promote the views of a few interested indivi- duals? If it were politic in his majesty's go- vernment to concede any superiority of privi- lege to any one body of the king's subjects over another, surely a colony composed entirely of Englishmen has reason to expect that such a concession should be made in its favour, and not to its prejudice, in favour of a country acquired, and in some measure retained by force, and con- nected with the parent country by no ties of com- mon origin and affinity, — by no congeniality of habit, — by no similarity of religion. But the colonists neither expect nor desire any such con- cessions : they seek the possession and enjoy- ment of their own indubitable rights; they would not curtail those of others ; they neither want to render other colonies tributary to their prosperity, nor to continue, as they have hither- to been, tributary to that of others.

If, on the other hand, we take a hasty sur- vey of the advantages, which, I trust it has been satisfactorily proved, would be consequent on internal distillation, never, it will be seen, was there a measure, that could adduce in its sup- port more urgent and weighty considerations. It would afford employment, and thus impart fresh health and vigour to the agricultural body, debilitated by long suffering and disease ; — it

x2

308 VAKIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

would place the means of the colonists on a level with their wants, and, by creating a good and sufficient medium of circulation in the place of the present worthless currency, would give rise to other channels of industry, and to the speedy establishment of an export trade : — it is the only possible way of insuring the co- lony against the calamitous effects, which have hitherto been invariably attendant on the inun- dations of 'the river Hawkesbury : — it would lessen the injurious preponderancy of the go- vernment in the market, by creating a great competition for the purchase of grain, and would thus prevent the arbitrary imposition on this, the principal production of the colonists, of a maxi- mum that is frequently beneath its just value ; — and it would improve the morals of the present and of future generations. With these' irresist- ible arguments in favour of this measure, it must be evident that the cause of justice and morality would be violated by any further unnecessary delay in its adoption.

The next object of internal consumption, to which, in my opinion, the government ought to direct the attention of the colonists, is the growth of tobacco. The amount of the annual importation of this article from the United States of America and the Brazils, (the two supplying countries) cannot be esti- mated at less than five thousand pounds. This

THK PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 309

would be a very material saving to the colony in its present circumstances, and one that might be effected with the greatest ease, and without prejudice to any part of the empire. The only question in this instance is, whether it be more politic that the colony should supply itself, or be dependent on foreigners. Here are no contending interests to reconcile, no portion of his majesty's subjects in any part of the globe, who could wish to oppose the im- position of a prohibitory duty on the importa- tion of this article into the colony. And this is the only measure that would be necessary to direct the attention of the settlers to this highly important production, for which, it has been found, that the climate and soil of the co- lony are peculiarly adapted. In three years, at most, after the adoption of this regulation,1 the colonists would raise a sufficient quantity of tobacco for their own consumption. It will be an after-consideration for the government to take the requisite means to promote the in- creased growth and exportation of this highly important product to the mother country. The immense advantage, that she would derive, fram possessing, in one of her own colonies, an article of such general consumption, and for which she is at present entirely tributary to foreign powers, is too obvious to need illus- tration, and too considerable it is to be hoped,

310 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

the attention and encouragement of her legis- lature.

Hemp, flax, and linseed, are also productions, to which the climate and soil of the colony, and its dependent settlements at the Dervvent and Port Dairy mple are remarkably congenial, and the growth of which might be easily promoted by wise regulations. Yet, highly valuable as are all these productions, and altogether de- pendent as is this country for the amazing quantities of them, which she consumes in her navy, her manufactures, and her commerce, no attempt has been made, since the establish- ment of the colony, to direct the attention of its inhabitants to their growth and exportation. The views of the different gentlemen, who have been successively intrusted with the govern- ment, have never reached so far, or else their means have been inadequate to the accomplish- ment of these great ends. In embellishing the capital, and erecting various public edifices, of which, however, I do not mean to question the utility, their attention appears to have been chiefly absorbed. It seems never to have come into their contemplation that all these embel- lishments would have been the natural and in- evitable results of the increasing prosperity of the community, but that they could never of themselves either create or promote it. A flou-

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 311

rishing agriculture, a thriving commerce, would have equally effected all these objects ; but with this material difference, without that enormous expense to this country with which they have been attended. The imposition of small taxes, for the promotion of public objects, is no griev- ance to a people whose prosperity is the work of a wise and considerate government. An impolitic and oppressive one cancels alike the will to make, and the power to levy such con- tributions ; and imposes on itself the necessity of moderating its wants, or of having recourse to foreign channels for their supply. In this instance the great burthen of these public under- takings has fallen on this country, nor have they been the most inconsiderable item in the amount of the colonial expenditure. Yet all that has been already lavished, and all that this country may hereafter lavish in prosecution of the same narrow and absurd system, will have but little influence in promoting the real pur- poses of colonization.

This mania for building, which has always di- rected the local government, has unfortunately communicated itself to the colonists, particu- larly to those who inhabit the various towns, and they are at present in the condition of a man who has a large house, but wants wherewithal to furnish and support it. Their situation would

312 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

be more enviable, if they had smaller habita- tions replete with a greater degree of plenty and comfort. The establishment of an export trade, that may enable them to procure in suffi- cient abundance those foreign commodities, which long habit has rendered indispensable to civilized life, is what they desire, and what a wise government would desire also ; more es- pecially since the parent colony is a great ma- nufacturing nation herself, and possesses the po- wer of supplying the commodities in question. Millions more expended in the same improvident manner, as heretofore, will not effect this great object ; and, with half the expense already in- curred, a politic government would have al- ready accomplished it. Of this assertion the labours of an individual, who, if, on the one hand, he has met with some support from the more liberal and enlightened administration of this country, has constantly experienced, on the other, all the opposition, which the envy and malevolence of the local government could throw in his way, furnish an indubitable proof.

This gentleman, John Mac Arthur Esq. for- merly a captain in the New South Wales corps, which was afterwards converted into the 102d regiment, embarked more largely from the very commencement of the colony, in the rear- ing of sheep and cattle, than any other indi-

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 313

vidual. Notwithstanding the very great profits, which his extensive flocks and herds yielded him, — a circumstance that would have satisfied the ambition, and lulled to sleep the inquiries of a less penetrating mind, he foresaw, so long as fifteen years back, what has since been real- ized, the crisis of general distress and embarrass- ment, to which the course pursued by the local government, would eventually conduct ; and, on the occasion of his being unjustly ordered to this country by the then governor, where he soon vindicated himself from the charges imputed to him, he convinced the ministry of the advantages, that would accrue to the nation from promoting in the colony the growth of fine wool ; and obtained from them a consider- able grant of land, and various encourage- ments besides, in order to enable him to carry this highly important project into execution. Among other indulgences, he procured an order in council permitting him to embark on board the vessel, that was to re-convey him to the colony, four Spanish ewes and a ram, which he had purchased out of the king's flocks. With this small beginning he undertook, and — in spite of an incessant war waged against him by ma- lignity and misrepresentation, — the withhold- ing in some measure of the encouragements ordered by the liberality of his majesty's ministry, — and endless other disappointments

314 VARIOUS ALTERATION'S SUGGESTED IN

and vexations that would have damped any ordi- nary resolution, — his efforts have been crown- ed with the most complete success, and he has at present not less than five thousand sheep, of which the wool, from continual crosses with Spanish tups, the progeny of the few sheep purchased by him at the sale of the king's flocks, has become as fine as the best imported from Saxony, and has been found to surpass it in elasticity, a quality highly conducive to the firmness and durability of the cloth. Many gentlemen also of the colony, who have large flocks, sensible of the folly of breeding sheep for the mere sake of the carcases, which, in consequence of the limited population, and unlimited extent of grazing country, have al- ready become of inferior value, and in a short time more will be worth little or nothing, en- tered some years back on this gentleman's system ; and there may, perhaps, be among all the rest of the sheep-holders the same number of fine woolled sheep, which he alone possesses. Here then is an exportable article of immense consequence to the colony, andof the highest po- litical importance to this country ; — an article indispensable to the support of her staple manu- facture, and for which she has hitherto beenalto- gether dependent on foreign nations; yet has no attempt, but the one I have just alluded to, been made, either by the government of this country,

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 315

or of the colony, to direct the attention of the sheep-holders to its production ; on the contrary, the greatest obstacles have been thrown in the way of this gentleman's success, — obstacles which none but the most enthusiastic spirit could have surmounted. Thanks, however, to his invincible perseverance, the dawn of pros- perity is at length breaking on the colony. The long stormy night of suffering and misery is drawing to a close ; yet a few years, and the sun of peace and plenty will appear on its horizon. But, although this event will, in the natural course of things, soon take place, its approach maybe greatly accelerated, or retard- ed by the wisdom or folly of the government. The colonists, in spite of every impediment they may have to encounter, cannot much longerremain insensible to the advantages which they possess, who have already followed the wise example of this gentleman. These they will daily behold in the enjoyment of compara- tive ease and happiness, and in possession of a certain progressive income, exposed to few or no contingencies, and dependent on no man for its extent and duration ; while, on the other hand, they will find that their own income must not only diminish every year, but rest for its continuance on the good pleasure of their governor, who, if he should even possess the will, would not want the power, to enlarge it

316 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

to any considerable amount, and who, should he be their enemy, might at any time reduce it to nothing. The manifest superiority, therefore, which the proprietors of fine woolled possess over those of coarse woolled sheep, would alone suffice in the end to draw the attention of all the sheep-holders in the colony to the improve- ment and perfection of the fleeces of their flocks. This is happily a much easier task at present, than at the period, when Mr. Mac Arthur first entered on the system of crossing. At that epoch there were few sheep in the colony, but such as had been introduced from the East Indies, which it is well known are entirely covered with hair. This race, so disgusting in its appearance to Englishmen, has long since disappeared, nor are there any sheep at present, whose wool could be termed actually coarse.

The wool of the Leicester breed is perhaps the coarsest that could any \vhere be found. A few years continual crossing with Spanish tups would consequently suffice to cover all the sheep in the colony with fine wool. Three crosses, which, under a proper system, would occupy about six years, would be sufficient, if the government would employ the means at their disposal, to accomplish this great national object. The Dumber of sheep in the month of

November, )8i8, amounted, as it has already

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 31t

been seen, to 201,240 ; out of which, as I have1 just stated, 10,000 are of the pure Spanish breed, or nearly : — it may therefore be perceived what an immense exportation of this precious article might take place in a few years, under judicious and politic regulations.

No country in the world is perhaps so well adapted to the growth of fine wool as this colony. There is in its climate alone a pecu- liar congeniality for the amelioration of wool, which has been found of itself to occasion, in a few years, a very perceptible improvement in the fleeces of the coarsest description of sheep. Even the East India-breed, entirely covered with hair, produce, without being crossed with a finer race, a progeny, the superiority of whose fleece over that of the parent stock is visible in every remoter generation. This amazing con- geniality of climate is supported by local ad- vantages of equal, if not greater importance* For hundreds of miles into the interior, this colony has been found to be covered with the richest pasturage, and every where intersected with rivulets of the finest water. A constant succession of hill and dale diversifies the whole face of the country, which is so free from timber, that in many places there are thousands of acres without a tree.

318 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED Itf

The settlements at the Derwent and Port Dalrymple, though situated in a colder climate, and, therefore, in all probability not equally congenial to the growth of fine wool, afford the same excellent pasture, and contain, in every respect besides, the same facilities for the rearing of Spanish sheep, whose fleeces it is reasonable to expect on comparing the climate of these settlements., with that of Saxony, would not degenerate, if the same system, which prevails in that country, were followed in the management of sheep in these colonies. Saxony is situated between the 50th and 51st degrees of north latitude ; and Van Dieman's Land, on the nor- thern and southern parts of which these two establishments are formed, between the 41st and 43d degrees of south latitude ; so that allow- ing for the superior coldness of the southern hemi- sphere, the whole of this island possesses a climate more congenial to the growth of wool, than the finest parts of a country, whose wool exceeds in value that of Spain and Italy. The settlers, however, have not yet opened their eyes to the ad vantage of having fine woolled flocks, although they have, for many years past, had but a very limited market for their mutton, and the government there, as at Port Jackson, have made no efforts to turn their attention to this object.

This unaccountable indifference to a matter of

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 319

such vast political importance, it is to be hoped, will at length be followed by a proper degree of attention and encouragement. Among all the various ends proposed by our extended colo- nial system, none perhaps is more intrinsically worthy the cordial undeviating support of his majesty's government, than the one in ques- tion. In twenty years, the extensive expor- tation, which might be effected, under proper regulations, in this single article, would alone raise the colonists from the point of depression and misery, to which they have been reduced, to as high a pitch of affluence and prosperity as are enjoyed by any portion of his majesty's subjects in any quarter of the globe. Before the expiration of that period, I am convinced that they might be enabled to ship for this country, at least, a million's worth of fine wool annually ; and, for the accomplishment of this vast national object, it would not be necessary for this country to expend one far- thing more, than is at present wasted in pro- secution of a system of mere secondary impor- tance, and having little or no bearing on the eventual prosperity of the colony. It is only by establishing this prosperity on a solid basis, by encouraging the growth of exports, until they rise to a level with its imports, that it can be converted from an unproductive and ruinous dependency into a profitable and im-

320 VAttlOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

portant appendage. Whenever it shall have attained this point of advancement, whenever it shall have acquired an independence in its resources, then, and not before, will it begin to answer the real ends of all colonization, — the extension of the commerce and resources of the mother country. Then, like some vast river of the ocean, will it pour back its majestic stream into the bosom of its parent flood, and con- tribute to the circulation and salubrity of its bounteous author.

Among the various remaining articles of ex- port, which the colony is capable of producing, and to which the industry of its inhabitants might be gradually attracted, the last two that I shall specify, are the vine and the olive*. These, indeed, with the various pro- ductions, which I have already named, are capable of such vast extension, as to be fully adequate to absorb all the energies of the colo- nists for many years to come, whatever may be the increase in their numbers. To mention, therefore, the endless less important produc- tions, to which the climate and soil of this colony are equally congenial, would only

* The olive has been found to thrive remarkably well in the colony, and a bottle of olive oil has already been sent home as a sample of a product, which with proper encouragement might be hereafter exported on a very extensive scale to this country.

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 321

be to perplex their choice, and to divert, perhaps, their industry into less productive channels. v It would be superfluous to dwell on the happy results that would attend the general introduction and culture of these two productions, both with reference to them as ar- ticles of internal consumption and exportation ; since it is well known, how materially they contribute to the comfort and affluence of the countries which are blessed with them. I shall, therefore, only just mention that the greatest facilities have been lately afforded for their general culture by the same gentleman who first introduced the Spanish sheep into the colony ; and that there is only now wanting the foster- ing hand of the government to occasion their further propagation.

One of the most efficacious measures that could be adopted, as well for their general in- troduction, as for that of the various other va- luable productions before enumerated, would perhaps be the establishment of a colonial plan- tation, in which a certain number of the most enterprising youths might be instructed in their culture and preparation. This institution might, I am convinced, be founded under a proper system without occasioning any considerable expense. The first step to be taken would of course be the selection of a fit allotment of ground, which

322 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

ought to be granted to trustees, according to the usual forms of law. These should consist of a certain number of gentlemen of considera- tion in the colony, who would consent to hold this office as an honorary one, without any view to private emolument. To place this institu- tion near the capital, Sydney, where the greater part of the land is already located, and besides of a very indifferent quality, ought not, by any means, to be attempted, — not only for these reasons, but because the youth, whom it would be the main object of this institution to train up to economical and laborious pursuits, •would run the risk of contracting the vicious habits, and falling into the excesses of that town ; — a risk which a removal to a proper dis- tance from it, would effectually provide against. The most eligible situation, perhaps, for the establishment of this highly important institu- tion would be some fertile spot in the cow-pas- tures, which, as it has been already mentioned, are injudiciously reserved for the use of the wild cattle, notwithstanding that they have nearly disappeared.

The only two individuals who have grants of land in this district are Messrs. Mac Arthur and Davison ; and my recommendation, that this institution should be formed in the same district, is not more influenced by the fertility of

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 823

its soil, than by the contiguity which it would in this case possess to the former gentleman's estate ; — a contiguity, which would enable him frequently to visit it, and to afford the direc- tor of it such information, as could not fail to contribute very materially to its progress and success. It must be quite unnecessary for me to dwell on the importance of confiding the superintendence of such an establishment to some one, who might be duly qualified for the discharge of the duties that would be attached to it. Perhaps the government would act wisely, if my suggestion on this head should be deemed worthy of attention, in selecting for this office an intelligent person from the South of France, who has been accustomed to the culture of the vine and the olive. These with tobacco, hemp, and flax, are the objects to which, I am of opinion, the attention of such an institution would be most beneficially ap- plied. And if, as is not improbable, it should be found impracticable to procure a person acquainted with the culture and preparation of all these various productions, it would not be difficult to discover among the colonists themselves men of good character possessing the knowledge in which he might be deficient, and who might be assigned him as assistants, but still placed under his direction and control. The encouragement, which, I consider, should

Y 2

324 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

be held out to the director, as well as to his subordinate agents, ought not to consist of stipulated salaries, which might superinduce lethargy, and prevent them from contributing their utmost to the success of the establishment, — but of a certain proportion of the clear profits of the concern, after the deduction of all con- tingent expenses. What I conceive this pro- portion ought to be, I will hereafter specify, as also the manner in which I would distribute the remainder. The subjects which I propose for immediate consideration are: 1st, The man- ner in which this institution might be founded ; 2ndly, The number and description of the candi- dates to be admitted, with the manner of their occupation ; and, lastly, the nature of the encou- ragement to be accorded them.

The means necessary for this undertaking must be unavoidably supplied by the govern- ment. " The Police Fund" is so burdened with charges of one sort or another, that I fear it would prove of itself inadequate to the com- pletion of this measure : although there can be no doubt, that most of the ends, to which this fund is at present devoted, are of but subordi- nate utility, and might be very advantageously postponed to the object under consideration. The erection of the different buildings, that would be immediately required for the various

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 325

incipient purposes of this institution, and the supply of its inmates with provisions, and with the requisite implements of husbandry duringthe first eighteen months of its establishment, — after which period I consider they would be fully able to administer in these respects to their own wants, — would be the principal expenses to be incurred. About £6000 would suffice for these objects ; — while, in return, this seminary would gradually extend its influence to every district, — would develop and bring to maturity various exportable commodities, which are as yet lying in embryo, and which this country does not pos- sess in any of her colonies ; — and, in tine, would become more extensively beneficial, in propor- tion to its own progressive march towards perfection.

Secondly, With respect to the number of candidates to be admitted, they ought perhaps, in the first instance, to be limited to fifty, al- though they might, and indeed ought to be subsequently increased to not fewer than two hundred. More than those in the commence- ment, before a due degree of order and eco- nomy could be introduced, would undoubtedly create confusion and an unnecessary augmenta- tion of expense. Fifty are as many, as I conceive could be advantageously occupied, for the first two or three years. It must, however, be ob-

326 VARIOUS ALTERATION'S SUGGESTED II*

vious, that the capability of this institution for the reception, and profitable employment of a greater number of pupils, would very materially depend on the director, and be, in a great mea- sure, accelerated or retarded by his ability, or incompetency for a due discharge of his duties.

As to the description of these candidates, it would, I consider, be proper that they should consist of young men born in the colony, or who may have come to it with their parents ; — that they should not exceed eighteen years of age, nor be under fifteen ; — that they should be of docile tempers and regular habits, which points should be ascertained previously to their admittance; — and that their parents or guardians should bind them apprentice for the space of five years to the trustees or directors of this establishment for the time being, during which period they should renounce all control over them whatever. ,

I will not here pretend to describe all the various modes of occupation, which it might be proper to allot them. I have already enume- rated those productions, the culture of which I conceive might be most advantageously taught and disseminated by means of this institution. Others, however, of equal and perhaps greater utility, may be hereafter suggested by persons

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 327

more conversant with the situation and interests of the colony, and ought unquestionably, if there be any such, to become identified with those which I have specified. Whatever may be the decision of more competent judges than, myself on this subject, I may perhaps confi- dently venture to recommend, that the pupils should be divided into classes, that each of these should be instructed in a particular sort of cul- ture at a time, and that, upon the attainment of a thorough knowledge how to cultivate and prepare any one article, and not before, their attention should be directed to some other, and so on, till the expiration of their several ap- prenticeships. It would be proper also to al- low their parents or guardians the selection of the occupations, in which they might wish their children or wards to be instructed, in so far, at least, as such occupations might be compatible with any of the purposes of the institution.

And lastly, with reference to the nature and extent of the encouragements to be accorded to the pupils, 1 would recommend, in order that their energies might be stretched to the greatest possible point of extension, that six eights of the net annual profits arising from their labours should be set apart, and remain in the hands of the trustees, for their sole use and benefit ; and that, on their retiring from this institution, the

328 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

accumulated amount should be equally divided among them, both to secure their successful es- tablishment in life, and to render the know- ledge, which they may have severally acquired, of permanent benefit to the community. I would" also recommend that the accounts both of the expenditure and profits of the institution should be annually submitted to the trustees for their approval, and afterwards printed and distributed among the pupils, not only for the purpose of provoking inquiry into their accuracy, and obtaining that rectification, in case of error, which it might be difficult to effect after the lapse of five years; — but with a view to bring home to their understand- ings, and to convince them, beyond the possi- bility of doubt, of the benefits derived from their past labours ; — a conviction that would prove the most cordial incentive, the most powerful lever which could be applied to their future industry and exertion. I would lastly recommend, that the quantity of land, and in- deed that the encouragements of every kind, which the government are in the habit of grant- ing to the ordinary class of settlers, should be increased in a two-fold proportion to the pu- pils of this institution ; but, as it evidently would not be expedient or equitable that those, who might habitually violate the re- gulations to be made for the good government

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 329

of this little community, should receive, on the one hand, an equal recompence with those whose conduct might have always been regular and exemplary, or that they should be deprived, on the other, of their quota of the emoluments, that might accumulate during the period of their apprenticeships, I would suggest, in order to mark that due gradation, which in every well regulated society must necessarily exist in the scale of rewards to be accorded to such as may be subordinate or refractory, — industrious, or idle — that these latter encouragements should only be extended in this double ratio to those, who might quit the establishment with a certi- ficate of good conduct from the director.

With regard to the allowance to be made to the gentleman to whom the directorship might be confided, I should imagine that one eighth of the clear profits arising from the institution, would be a most liberal compensation for his trouble and attention, and that the remaining eighth would be an equally handsome provision for the whole of his assistants, one of whom would be required for the superintendence and instruction of each of the classes, into which it might be determined that the pupils should be divided.

Such are the principal measures which appear

330 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED 15

essential to the revival of the agricultural pros- perity. I will now briefly notice the various restrictions, with which the commercial interests have been not less injudiciously fettered, and the removal of which is of the highest impor- tance to the progress and welfare of the colony^ These may be divided into two heads, duties and disabilities; and first, with reference to the duties, with which the various articles of export, that the colonists possess or procure, have been shackled by the successive governors. The duties in question are enumerated in the following schedule, and are levied upon the undermentioned articles, whether they are in- tended for home consumption or for exporta- tion ; in which latter case it will be seen that some few of them are even doubled.

£ s. d.

On each ton of sandal wood 2 10 0

On each ton of pearl shells 2 10 0

On each ton of beche la mer - 500

On each ton of sperm oil 2 10 0

On each ton of black whale or other oil - 200

On each fur seal skin - 0 0 !•£

On each hair ditto . 0 0 0£

On each kangaroo ditto - . 0 0 0£

On cedar or other timber from Shoal-haven, or any other part of the coast or harbours of New South Wales (Newcastle excepted, as the duties are already prescribed there)

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONV. 331

£ s. d.

when not supplied by government labourers,

for each solid foot 010

For every twenty spars from New Zealand

or elsewhere - - 100

On timber in log or plank from New Zealand,

or elsewhere, for each solid foot "', - ."' 010 For each ton of coals from Newcastle for

home consumption 02 6

Ditto if exported 050

For each thousand square feet of timber for

home consumption 300

Ditto if exported 600

That all these duties should be levied on these different articles, in as far as they may be con- sumed in the colony, may be highly expedient ; but that they should be equally levied on expor- tation, and in two of the most material instan- ces doubled, is so manifestly absurd, that it must be quite superfluous to dilate on the subject. It is a system of policy which, it may be safely as- serted, is unknown in any other part of the world ; and nothing, but the indubitable certain- ty of its existence, would convince any rational person that it could ever have entered into the contemplation of any one intrusted with the government of a colony. These duties have had the effect, which might have been expected from them ; they have in most instances amounted to actual prohibitions. Their operation, indeed,

332 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

has been found so burdensome and oppressive, that the colonial merchants have frequently petitioned the local government for relief; but no attention whatever has been paid to their repeated representations and remonstrances. Had it not been for the duties on coals and timber, some hundred tons of these valuable natural productions (would have been exported annually to the Cape of Good Hope and India ; since the vessels, which have been in the prac- tice of trading between those countries and the colony, have always returned in ballast ; and the owners or consignees would, therefore, have gladly shipped cargoes of timber or coals, if they could have derived the most minute profit from the freight of them. This observation holds good in a great measure with respect to the various other articles which have been enu- merated:— the exportation of the whole has been greatly circumscribed by the same ridicu- lous and vexatious system of impost. It can hardly be credited that the veriest sciolist in political economy could have been guilty of such a palpable deviation from its fundamental prin- ciples : — but it is still more unaccountable, that a succession of governors should have pertina- ciously adhered to a system of finance so absurd and monstrous.

Highly injurious, however, as are the duties

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 333

which are levied in the colony, they are not nearly so oppressive as those which are levied in this country, on spermaceti, right whale, and elephant oils procured in the colonial built vessels. The duties on the importation of such oil into this country, are £24 18s. 9d. for the first sort, and £8 6s. 3d. for the two last. If we add to these enormous duties those which are levied by the authority of the local govern- ment, it will be perceived that all the spermaceti oil procured by the colonial vessels has to pay a duty of £28 8s. 9d. and all the right whale and elephant oil a duty of £10 6s. 3d. before it can come into competition with the oil of the same description procured in vessels built in the united kingdom. It has, however, been seen, that the colonists, propelled not less by that spirit of enterprize, which distinguishes Englishmen in every part of the globe, than by the desire of finding profitable employment for that large portion of unoccupied labour, of which I have hastily pointed out the causes and march for the last fifteen years, have frequently attempted, notwithstanding these overwhelm- ing prohibitions, to carry on these fisheries, but always without success ; and that the valuable fishery of right whales, which the river Derwent aifords at a particular season, is now only re- sorted to, in order to procure the trifling sup- ply of oil that is requisite for the East India

334 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

market and for internal consumption. All attempts to export oil to this country have been for many years abandoned ; since the trade could only be maintained at a dead loss, as the ruinous experience of many of the colonial mer- chants has abundantly attested. The reason, why these enormous duties were imposed on oil procured in the colonial vessels, is not gene- rally understood here, but it is universally known in the colony ; and the knowledge has materially tended to increase the dissatisfaction, which the imposition of such duties would of itself, to a certain extent, have naturally excited. The act, which authorizes these duties, is one of those smuggled acts, by which, to the disgrace of our legislature, the welfare and happiness of helpless unprotected thousands have been so frequently sacrificed on the shrine of individual avarice or ambition. It originated in a certain great mercantile house extensively concerned in the South Sea fisheries, and could never have been passed, had there been a single person in either house of parliament, at all interested in the prosperity of this colony. This act, indeed, is such a terrible deviation, such a monstrous exception to the usual policy of this country with respect to her fisheries, that it carries with itself the strongest internal evidence of its polluted origin. No such restrictions had ever before been imposed on any of our colonies,

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 335

as will be sufficiently evident, if we compare the duties which are levied in this country on oils procured in the vessels belonging to the colonies in North America and the West Indies, with those which are levied on oils procured in the vessels fitted out from the united kingdom. These duties are as follow :

£ s. d.

Train oil, or spermaceti oil, or bead matter the produce offish, or creatures living in the sea, taken and caught by the crew of a British built ship or vessel, wholly owned by his majesty's subjects, usually residing in Great Britain, Ireland, or the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, registered and navigated according to law, and imported in any such shipping, the ton containing 252 gallons - 083

Train oil, or spermaceti oil, or head matter, the produce of fish or creatures living in the sea,taken and caught on the banks and shores of the Island of Newfoundland and parts ad- jacent wholly by his majesty's subjects car- rying on such fishery from that Island, or tak- en and caught wholly by his majesty's sub- jects usually residing in any of the Bahama, or Bermuda Islands, or taken and caught in the Gulph of St. Lawrence, or on the shores of any British Colony or plantation in North America, or the parts adjacent wholly by his majesty's subjects usually residing in any of the said colonies or plantations, and

336 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

£ s. d.

carrying on such fishery from thence, and imported directly from such places, islands, colonies, or plantations in a British built ship, or vessel owned, navigated, and regis- tered according to law, the ton containing 252 gallons 1 0 0

Train oil, the produce of fish, or creatures living in the sea, taken and caught wholly by his majesty's subjects usually residing in any other British colony, plantation, territory, or settlement exported in a Bri- tish-built ship or vessel, registered, and navigated according to law, the ton con- taining 252 gallons - - 863

Spermaceti oil, or head matter taken and im- ported as above, per ton of 252 gallons 24 18 9

From the foregoing statement it will be per- ceived that the duty levied on train oil, or sper- maceti oil, or head matter procured by the inhabitants of Newfoundland, the Bahama, and Bermuda Islands, and the British Colonies in North America, and the Gulph of St. Lawrence, is precisely the same, arid only about two and a half times the amount of that which is levied on the same substances procured by British subjects residing within the united kingdom. While, on the other hand, the duty levied on oil procur- red in any other British colony ; (for mark the contrivers of this act* had sufficient cunning not

* I say the contrivers of this act ; for although the duties in

TltE PKtSENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 337 i

to particularize the unfortunate colony against which it was levelled) is twenty times greater on train oil, and oh monstrous injustice ! upwards of sixty times greater on spermaceti oil or head matter than that which is levied on similar sub- stances taken by British subjects residing within the limits of the United Kingdom. The duty therefore which is payable here on train oil pro- cured in vessels belonging to this colony is near- ly eight and a half times greater than that which is payable on the same description of oil taken in vessels belonging to the Island of *Newfound- land, the Bahama, and Bermuda Islands, and the British Colonies in North America, and the Gulph of St. Lawrence ; while the duty which is levied here on spermaceti oil, or head-matter procured in vessels belonging to this Colony is nearly twenty-five times the amount of that which is levied on similar substances taken in vessels belonging to any of the above Colonies^

question are leried by virtue of an act passed last Session, tke 59 Geo. 3. Cap. 52. yet this act was merely intended to con- solidate the various acts already in force relating to the Customs, and has made no alteration in the duties on oils procured by the inhabitants of New South Wales. I have, therefore, a right to consider these duties as having been created rather by the original, than by this last act, which in this respect is but a mere echo of the other.

* The duties on train oil and spermaceti oil or head-matter imported directly from this island are suspended by this act until the 6th July, 1824.

t Before this last act (the 59 Geo. 3. Cap. 52) the duty

z

338 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

This very unequal proportion which the du- ties levied on these two sorts of oils, if procured by the inhabitants of this colony, bear to each other, when compared with the duties which are levied on the same substances, if procured by the inhabitants of any of the foregoing co- lonies or plantations, furnishes an additional proof, were any required, of the correctness of my assertions with respect to the origin of the act, by which they were originally imposed. The house, who were the authors of it, could not consistently get the duty on one description of oil raised, without at the same time admitting the necessity for raising the duty on the other ; but, as they were not interested in the right whale fishery, they were only anxious to pre- vent the colonists of New South Wales from embarking in the sperm whale fishery ; and, could they have accomplished this object with- out running the ri&k of discovering the covert aim of the act in its progress through parlia-

levied on train oil procured in the Bahama, or Bermuda Islands, or the British plantations in North America, was £3. 6s. 6d. per ton : and the duty on sperm oil or head matter £4 1 9s. 9d. per ton. Is it not strange, when this injudicious distinction, which had been made in the duties on oils taken by the inhabitants of these colonies, and of the island of Newfoundland, was thus abo- lished, that the legislature did not extend the same privilege to the inhabitants of New South Wales, the Isle of France, and th« Cape of Good Hope ?

THE PRESENT POLIcr OF THIS COLONY. 339

ment, they would have gladly compromised this point with them, and have left the right whale fishery open to them on the same conditions, as it was before the enactment of this bill. To have evinced, however, any such tolerant in- clination might have betrayed their design, and accordingly the colonist, were debarred from both the fisheries; for, notwithstanding in the imposition of these duties that regular gradation has by no means been adhered to, which had been previously observed in the scale of duties levied on oils taken by the inhabitants of other colonies or plantations, — the duties on both sorts of oils taken in vessels belonging to this colony have been more sufficient than to constitute actual prohibitions.

That any superiority of privilege whatever should have been conceded by the legislature of this country, in the various acts which have been passed for the encouragement of the fish- eries, to British subjects residing within the limits of the united kingdom, is at best a mani- fest injustice to such of her subjects as inhabit the colonies ; but yet, so long as this partiality was confined within any reasonable bounds, it would not have excited any considerable feeling of dissatisfaction. That there should, however, be any gradation in the scale of duties to1 be levied on any description of merchandize pto-

z 2

340 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

cured, or produced in the colonies themselves is a system, which it is impossible to reconcile with any principle of justice or policy. Still so long as this disproportion of impost, how- ever unwise and unjust, did not become so bur- densome and oppressive as to confine this branch of commerce, whatever it might be, to the pri- vileged colony or colonies, — some palliation might be offered by its advocates for its conti- nuance, although the warmest of them would not be able to attempt its vindication. But that any one colony should be utterly excluded from privileges freely accorded to another, is such a monstrous stretch of tyrannical partiality, that it never could have been deliberately discussed in a free government, and must, therefore, have been contrived by the secret machinations of private avarice and corruption.

Can any reason be adduced, why British sub- jects residing in one colony should be excluded from the whale fisheries more than British sub- jects residing in another? Why vessels built in Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the Bahama, or Bermuda Islands, should possess a privilege denied to vessels built in New Holland, or Van Diemen's Land ? The whale fisheries contiguous to the former colonies are neither so valuable nor extensive, as those which are in the vicinity of the latter colonies ; — yet every en-

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 341

couragement is afforded for carrying on the fisheries that are comparatively worthless and insignificant, and every obstacle thrown in the way of the successful prosecution of those ,which, if thrown open to the enterprize of the colo- nists of New South Wales, would soon be- come of paramount value and importance to the empire. Why a line of distinction so absurd and injurious has been thus drawn between our colonies, it is impossible to divine, unless it be to prove that there is no inconsistency, however repugnant to the common sense of mankind, to which a proper degree of corrupt influence can- not procure and continue the sanction of legis- lative enactment : — since the disability thus im- posed is not only not in furtherance of any of the ends contemplated by the navigation act,* but in diametrical opposition to the whole of them. This will be evident if we refer to its preamble and to a few of its prominent provi- sions. " Whereas for the increase of shipping and encouragement of the navigation of this nation, wherein under the good providence and protection of God, the wealth, safety, and strength of this kingdom are so much concerned, it is enacted that no goods, or commodities whatsoever, shall be imported into, or exported out of any lands, islands, plantations or territo- ries to his Majesty belonging, or in his posses-

* Car. II. eap. 18.

342 VARIOUS AI-TEUAT10NS SUGGESTED IK

sion, or which may hereafter belong unto, or be in the possession of his Majesty in Asia, Africa, or America, in any other vessels.whatsoever, but in such vessels as do truly and without fraud be- long only to the people of England, Ireland, or are of the built of and belonging to any of the said lands, islands, plantations, or territories as the proprietors and right owners thereof, and whereof the master and three-fourths of the mariners at least are English, under the penalty of the forfeiture and loss of all the goods and commodities which shall be imported into, or exported out of any the aforesaid places, in any other vessel, as also of the vessel, with all its tackle," &c. From this, which is the principal clause of the act, it clearly appears that British subjects, in whatever part of the empire. they may happen to reside, are entitled to precisely the same privileges, and that vessels built in any of her colonies are to all intents and purposes to be deemed of British built, in the same manner and on the same terms and condition s as if they had been built within the limits of the unitd kingdom, i. e. so long as the master and three fourths of the crew are British subjects. That this ad- mission to a perfect equality of privilege was, and is still the intent not only of the naviga- tion act, but of all the leading acts of naviga- tion which have been passed since, we shall be still further satisfied, if we trace them in their whole progress to the present hour. It will

THE PRESENT POLICY^ OF THIS COLONY. 343

not, however, be necessary to extend our exa- mination either way beyond the great registry act passed in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of his present majesty, cap. 60. By this act very considerable alteration was made in the whole concern of registering shipping, with a view of securing to ships of the built of this country a preference and superiority, which they had not enjoyed so completely before. The plan of regulation then proposed to par- liament was the result of an inquiry and deli- beration of great length before the committee of Privy Council for the Affairs of Trade and Plan- tations; and that inquiry was commenced and carried on, and the measure at length decided upon, principally by the exertion and persever- ance of the late Earl of Liverpool."* What vessels are still deemed in this careful and elaborate revi- sion of the navigation code to be of British built, may be seen from the first clause of this act, which ordains " that no vessels foreign built (except such vessels as have been, or shall here- after be taken by any of his Majesty's vessels of war, or by any private, or other vessel, and condemned, as lawful prize in any court of ad- miralty) nor any vessel built or rebuilt upon any foreign-made keel or bottom, in the man- ner heretofore practised and allowed, although owned by British subjects, and navigated ac-

* tleeves, second edilion, p. 397.

344 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IX

cording to law, shall be any longer entitled to any of the privileges and advantages of a Bri- tish built ship, or of a ship owned by British subjects, and all the said privileges and advan- tages shall hereafter be confined to such ships

< •»

only as are wholly of the built of Great Britain or Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man, or of some of the plantations, islands, or territories in Asia, Africa, or America, which now belong, or, at the time of building such vessels, did belong, or which may here- after belong to, or be in the possession of his Majesty ; provided always that nothing here- in before contained shall extend to prohibit such foreign built vessels only as before the 1st of May, 1786, did truly and without fraud wholly belong to any of the people of Great Britain or Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man, or some of the plantations, &c. &c." Here then I have cited the two lead- ing clauses in the two leading acts of naviga- tion, and both prove that the objects, which this country had in view, were to create nur- series of seamen for her navy, and to secure to her subjects, in whatever part of her extended empire they might reside, the benefit of the carrying trade. The imposition, therefore, of any duties on her subjects in any of her colo- nies greater than those which are levied, under similar circumstances, on her subjects at home,

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 345

far from being in unison with the liberal and enlightened policy of the navigation laws, is a broad deviation from their fundamental prin- ciples ; — and the creation of an entire system of exclusion, such as the one under consideration is, a fortiori, an utter violation of their letter and spirit. That any prohibitory duties of this sort could ever have been enacted will appear still more surprising, if we look a little further into the policy, which this country has pursued with respect to her other fisheries, particularly the cod fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland, and parts adjacent. For when by the 15th Charles II. cap. 7. she enlarged the scope of her great navigation act, and to the two main original objects contemplated in that act, viz. the creation of nurseries for seamen, and the securing of the carrying trade, she superadded a third, viz. that of making herself the entrep6t for the deposit of all goods and commodities, whether the growth, production, or manufac- ture of Europe, or of her colonies, it having been foreseen that this alteration in her mari- time code would be prejudicial to the cod fisheries, and that it would most materially conduce to their prosperity and extension still to allow salt, provisions, wine, &c. to be im- ported directly from various countries not sub- ject to the dominion of the crown of England into the colonies, from whence these fisheries

346 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

are carried on, this enlarged act,* after or- daining " that no commodity of the growth, production, or manufacture of Europe shall be imported into any land, island, plantation, colony, territory, or place to his Majesty be- longing, or which shall hereafter belong unto, or be in the possession of his Majesty in, Asia, Africa, or America, (Tangier only excepted) but what shall be bond fide and without fraud laden and shipped in England, and in English built shipping, and whereof the master and three fourths of the mariners at least are Eng- lish, and which shall be carried directly thence to the said lands, islands, plantations, colonies, territories, or places, and from no other place whatsoever, any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding, under the penalty of the loss of all such commodities of the growth, pro- duction, or manufacture of Europe, as shall be im- ported into any of them from any other place by land or by water, and if by water, of the vessel also, in which they were imported with her tackle, &c. &c." immediately subjoins: — " Provided that it shall be lawful to ship and lade in such ships, and so navigated as in the foregoing clause is set down and expressed, in any part of Europe, salt for the fisheries of New England and Newfoundland, and to ship and lade in

* 15 Charleu II. cap. 7.

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 347

the Madeiras wines of the growth thereof, and to ship and lade in the Western Islands, or Azores, wines of the growth of the said islands, and to ship and take in servants or horses in* Scotland or Ireland, and to ship or lade in Scotland all sorts of victual of the growth or production of Scotland, and to ship and lade in Ireland, all sorts of victual of the growth or production of Ireland, and the same to tran- sport into any of the said lands, islands, plan- tations, colonies, territories or places." Here then is an instance of a very material deviation from the spirit of the navigation laws for the sole purpose of encouraging a fishery; but who can deny its policy ? The legislature in this case had to decide, whether they would ex- tend this great national nursery for seamen, or whether they would check its growth by pre- venting the direct trade between these colo- nies and Europe, Madeira, the Azores, &c. by making herself the entrep6t for the deposit and exchange of the produce of these fisheries on the one hand, and of such productions of Europe, Madeira, the Azores, &c. as were more immedi- ately necessary for the extension and encourage- ment of these fisheries, on the other. The ad- vantages, that she would have derived from such a selfish arrangement, she wisely foresaw would

* England, Ireland and Scotland, since united into one kingdom.

348 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

be more than counterbalanced by the conco- mitant detriment, which her maritime interests would have sustained from it. And hence this deviation from one of the leading objects of her navigation laws, — -a deviation which has not only been continued ever since, but even considerably enlarged; for many other places are now included in the direct commerce with these colonies, as will be seen by reference to the 46 Geo. III. c. 116. which recites, "whereas by " the laws in force no commodity of the growth, " production, or manufacture of Europe, is •c allowed to be imported into any place to his " Majesty belonging, or which shall hereafter " belong unto, or be in the possession of his " Majesty in Asia, Africa, or America, but what " shall be bond fide and without fraud, laden " and shipped in Great Britain, or Ireland, " except salt for the fisheries of Nova Scotia, " Newfoundland and Quebec, which may be " laden in any port of Europe, and also except " any goods fit and necessary for the fishery in " the British colonies or plantations in Ame- " rica, being the growth, produce, or manu- " facture of Great Britain or Ireland, or of " the islands of Guernsey or Jersey, which may " be shipped and laden in the said islands re- " spectively by any of the inhabitants thereof, " and also except wines of the growth of the " Madeiras and the Western Islands, or Azorei,

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY, 349

" which may be laden at those places respec- " tively : and whereas, it may tend to the " benefit of the British fisheries, and to the " advantage of the commerce and navigation " of this country, if permission was given for " certain other articles to be shipped for the " British colonies in North America, at other " places in Europe, than those herein before " mentioned, under certain regulations and " restrictions:" it is therefore enacted that any fruit, wine, oil, salt, or cork, the produce of Europe, may be shipped and laden at Malta, or Gibraltar, for exportation direct to the said plantations in North America, on board any British built vessel, owned, navigated and re- gistered according to law, which shall arrive with the produce of the said fisheries taken and cured by his majesty's subjects carrying on the said fisheries from any of the said plantations, or from Great Britain or Ireland.

I have been thus copious in extracts from the navigation laws, to prove that the great leading principles of these laws would not only be in no wise encroached upon, by allowing the inha- bitants of this colony to carry on the whale fisheries in their own vessels, — but that the duties, which were thus clandestinely imposed on oils so procured, have been a flagrant viola-

350 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

tion of them, and that they are a single isolated exception to a general rule. Nor would the abolition of the duties in question, and the con- sequent encouragement of these fisheries, prove injurious to the British merchants at home, as must have been apprehended by those, who were the authors of the prohibitory law, by which these duties were enacted. Looking, indeed, at the mere situation of the colony, it would not be unnatural to conclude, that its contiguity to the sperm whale fisheries, on the coast of New Zealand, New Caledonia, and New Guinea, would give its inhabitants such a decided advantage over the persons carrying on the same fisheries from this country, that these latter would soon be forced to abandon a ruin- ous competition, and that the nation would consequently be deprived of the very important benefits, which she at present derives from ft. The fears, however, which are apt to arise on this view of the subject, will be immediately dissipated if it be considered, that the rope, canvas, casks, and gear of every description, necessary for the outfit of the colonial vessels for these fisheries, are furnished by this country, and can never be obtained in the colony, under an advance of fifty per cent, on the prime cost ; — that the sperm oil in the market is un- equal to the demand for it, — a fact proved

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 351

as well by the existing bounties* held out by the legislature for the encouragement of these fisheries, as by the enormous wages gained by the seamen employed in them ; — that these bounties themselves operate as a considerable prohibition to the colonists ; — and, lastly, that many years must elapse, before the colonial .fishermen can be properly organized, and rendered as expert as the English. These va- rious disadvantages, under which the inhabi- tants of this colony labour, are all but one of a permanent nature, and, it is evident, will always more than counterbalance the single local superiority which they possess, and insure the English merchants a decided advantage in the market ; — an advantage which, if it will not outstrip all competition, will at least only just permit that salutary opposition, which is essential to the prevention of monopoly and to the interests of the public.

It must, I should imagine, by this time be quite obvious, that the removal of the duties in question would be in complete unison with the spirit of the navigation laws, and with that liberal and enlightened policy, which this

* There cannot surely be a greater anomaly in legislation than that bounties should be held out for the encouragement of these fisheries to the inhabitants of one part of the empire, and that prohibitions should be imposed on the inhabitants of another.

352 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

country has on all other occasions invariably observed, with respect to colonies in parallel circumstances. In establishing, therefore, a precedent, I hope that I have made out a case sufficiently strong to warrant the interference of the legislature. It may not, however, be altogether superfluous, if it be only to point out the injury, which this country has sustained from her past injustice and impolicy, just to glance at the advantages that she would possess in future wars, from having an extensive body of seamen at her disposal in the South Pacific Ocean. Hitherto our squadrons in India have been entirely supplied with seamen from this country, and the great mortality, which takes place on that station, requires the supply to be constantly kept up. It is well known, although fewer actions take place in the Indian Seas, than, perhaps, on any other of our maritime stations, that the number of deaths occasioned by the bane- ful influence of the climate alone are proportion- ally more considerable, than in any other part of the world, with the single exception, I believe, of the coast of Africa. It becomes, therefore, a question of the greatest importance, whether considered in a political or philanthropic point of view, to ascertain, if this lamentable expen- diture of human life might not be considerably diminished by manning our ships of war in the Indian Seas with the inhabitants of New Hoi-

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 353

land. It is well known that our settlements in this vast island are situated in a climate, which forms a mean between the temperature of this country and India. There is consequently every probability, that the persons born in these colo- nies would be able to support the extreme heats of India much better than Englishmen. Be this, however, as it may, there can be no doubt of the benefit, that this country would de- rive, from having a valuable nursery of seamen in a situation, from which her navy in the East might at no very remote period be so easily supplied on all occasions of emergency. This prospect cannot fail to prove an additional motive with the government for the abolition of duties, which, if persevered in, will for ever stifle all commercial enterprize, and debar not only the colonists themselves, but the parent country also, from the various important advan- tages, which, I should presume it is now evident, that an uncontrolled ability to prosecute these fisheries would infallibly secure to one and the other.

With reference now to the commercial disa- bilities that have been imposed on this colony : — • the first impediment, the removal of which may be said to be of any material importance to its mercantile prosperity, is the clause in the

A A.

354 VAKIOUM ALTERATIONS SH.Gts I'EU IN

East India Company's charter*, which pro- vides " that it shall not be lawful for any vessel, the registered measurement whereof shall be less than three hundred and fifty tons, other than such vessels as may be employed by the East India Company as packets, to clear out from any port in the United Kingdom for any place within the limits of the said company's charter, or be admitted to entry at any port of the Uni- ted Kingdom from any place within those limits."^ When this act was passed, the per- nicious bearing of this clause on the colony was most probably overlooked. It has been found prejudicial in the following respects. — First, the demand for British goods is not sufficiently extensive to absorb cargoes of such magnitude ; so that when any such have, arrived, they have generally been attended with a loss to the owners, who will probably soon become too wise to continue such a hazardous commerce. Those merchants, indeed, who were in the habit of shipping cargoes in smaller vessels for the colonial market, before the passing of this act, have already abandoned, in a great measure, their connexion with the colony, which is at present chiefly dependent for its supplies of British manufactures on the captains of the

• 53 Geo. 3. c. 155.

t The colony of New South Walet is within these limits.

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 355

vessels employed in the transportation of con- victs. These supplies, therefore, have natu- rally become unequal and precarious ; some- times being unnecessarily superabundant and cheap, and at other times being so extremely scarce and dear, as to be entirely beyond the reach of the great body of the consumers. Such great fluctuations are obviously not more re- pugnant to the well being and comfort of the colonists themselves, than to the mercantile in- terests of this country.

Secondly, The tendency of this act is not less injurious to the colonists with regard to the few articles of export, which they are enabled to produce, or collect for the British market. These indeed are only three in number, wool, hides, and seal skins, and are at present very inconsiderable in quantity ; but the two former articles must necessarily increase every year, and will at length become of great extent and importance. The probable amount of the colo- nial exports has been already rated at about £44,000, out of which I consider that not more than £20,000 worth is conveyed to this country. The remainder consists of sandal wood, beche la mer, &c. exported principally to China and other places in the Indian seas. It may, therefore, be perceived that the whole of the annual exports of this colony would not suffice for half the freight of a single vessel of

A A 2

356 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

the size regulated by the act in question. It happens, in consequence, that the different ar- ticles of export, which the colonists collect, fre- quently accumulate in their stores for a year and a half, before it becomes worth the while of the captain of any of the vessels that frequent the colony, to give them ship-room ; and even then they do it as a matter of favour, not forgetting, however, to extort an exorbi- tant return for their kindness and condescension. The owners, indeed, of these vessels are so well aware of the inability of the colony to furnish them with cargoes on freight, that they generally manage, before their departure, to contract for freights from some of the ports in India ; — a precaution that increases still more perceptibly the difficulty, which the^ colonists experience in sending their produce to market. It must, therefore, be evident that they suffer a two-fold injury from this act, — both as it pre- vents the regular supply of the colonial markets with British manufactures, — and as it impedes the conveyance of their exports to this country. It is to be hoped, then, that this unnecessary and oppressive provision of the act* will be revised, and that vessels of any burden will be suffered to trade between this country and the colony,

* This act, so far as it affected the Colony was repealed during the last Session of Parliament, and vessels of any burden can now proceed thithsr from the ports of this country. See this act (the 59 Qeo. 3. cap. cxxii.) in the Appendix.

1

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 367

until its increased growth and maturity shall have rendered the revision of obsolete efficacy.

The last disability of serious detriment to the colonists, is that their vessels cannot navi- gate the seas within the limits of the East India Company's charter. I say cannot / because,, although since the late renewal of their charter vessels built in this colony are, I should appre- hend, entitled to all the privileges of other British built vessels, so long as they are navi- gated accord ing to law, it has not yet attained sufficient strength to be enabled to build vessels of the burden of three hundred and fifty tons ; and, if it even possessed this ability, such vessels could only convey the produce of the countries in the Eastern seas, to which the free trade has lately been opened, to certain ports in the United Kingdom. The colonists, therefore, are vir- tually precluded from trading in their own ves- sels within these limits ;- — a restriction highly injurious to them, and of no benefit whatever to the company. Till within these few years, the vessels built at the Cape of Good Hope were subject to a similar restraint ; but its useless and oppressive tendency became so glaring, and the restraint itself so obnoxious to the people, who were suffering under it, that it was at length removed by an Order in Council, dated 24th September, 1814, which was made

358 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

by virtue of an act passed so long back as the 49th* year of the reign of his late Majesty. By the 67th Geo. 3, c. 95. this settlement was expressly included, for all the purposes of the act, within the limits of the East India Company's charter. The same reasons, that sufficed for granting this privilege in the one instance, are at least equally conclusive in the other ; and it is to be hoped, that the legislature will soon release the colony of New South Wales also from so grievous and unneces- sary a restraint. Indeed no new act for this purpose is necessary ; for the 57th Geo. 3. c. 1. after reciting, " whereas it is expedient under " the present circumstances, that the trade and " commerce to and from all islands, colonies, " or places, and the territories and dependen- " cies thereof to his Majesty belonging, or in *' his possession in Africa or Asia, to the East- " ward of the Cape of Good Hope, excepting " only the possessions of the East India Com- a pany, should be regulated for a certain time " in such manner as shall seem proper to his " Majesty in Council, notwithstanding the spe- " ciai provisions of any act or acts of parlia- " ment, that may be construed to affect the " same," enacts, " that it shall be lawful for his " Majesty in Council, by any order to be issued

•Cap. 17.

THE PRESENT POLICY Of THIS COLONY. 359

" from time to time, to give such directions, " and make such regulations touching the trade " and commerce to and from the said islands, " colonies, or places, and the territories and de- " pendencies thereof, as to his Majesty in Coun- " cil shall appear most expedient and salutary; " any thing contained in any act of parliament " now in force relating to his Majesty's colonies " and plantations, or any other law or custom " to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding." It may, therefore, be perceived that the disabi- lity in question might be removed by a simple Order in Council. Whenever his Majesty's government shall have freed the colonists from this useless and cruel prohibition, the following branches of commerce will then be opened to them. First, they will be enabled to trans- port in their own vessels their coals, timber, spars, flour, meat, &c. to the Cape of Good Hope, the Isle of France, Calcutta, and many other places in the Indian seas, in all of which markets more or less extensive exist for these and various other productions, that the colony might furnish. Secondly, they will be ena- bled to carry directly to Canton the sandal wood, beche la mer, dried seal skins, and in fact all the numerous productions, which the surrounding seas and islands afford for the China market, and return freighted with cargoes of tea, silks, nan- keens, &c. all of which commodities are in great

360 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

demand in the colony, and are at present alto- gether furnished by East India or American merchants, to the great detriment and dissatis- faction of the Colonial. And, lastly, they will be enabled, in a short time, from the great in- crease of capital, which these important privi- leges would of themselves occasion, as well as attract from other countries, to open the fur trade with the north-west coast of America, and dis- pose of the cargoes of furs so procured' in China ; — a trade which has hitherto been* exclusively carried on by the Americans and Russians, al- though the colonists possess a local superiority for the prosecution of this valuable branch of commerce, which would insure them at least a successful competition with the subjects of those two nations.

Such are the principal alterations in the policy of this colony, which appear most essen- tial to its progress and welfare. All these, indeed, and many other privileges, which, though of only secondary consideration, would tend, like

* Many attempts have been made by the legislature to encou- rage British subjects to carry on this commerce from the ports of the United Kingdom, but they have in a great measure failed in this object: see Convention with the King of Spain, 33 Geo. 3. c. 52. Indeed, during the period of the Company's exclusive trade with China, it can only be successfully undertaken by per- sons residing within the limits of their charter.

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 361

a constant concurrence of small rivulets, to swell and enlarge the stream of colonial prosperity, would be the natural consequences of a free representative government. If I have, there- fore, gradually ascended from effect to cause, after the manner of experimental philosophy, I have chosen this mode of elucidation, not because it was the only one, which offered for the illustration of my subject, but because I consider the inferences to be drawn from it more satisfactory, than those to which the op- posite mode of reasoning (that of descending from generals to particulars) conducts; — because it would be as easy that the abolition of the various grievances, that have been enumerated, should be coeval with the creation of the free constitution, by which such abolition would be eventually accomplished; — and lastly, because the additional tedious delay, that would other- wise intervene between the establishment of a colonial legislature, the representation of griev- ances by which it would be followed, and their consequent removal, — a process that would occupy two years — might be thus avoided ; or, in other words, the same period of unneces- sary endurance and misery spared to the ill fated inhabitants of this colony. In recom- mending, however, that the government of this country should authorize the immediate adop- tion of the measures, which I have proposed,

362 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

I do not mean to imply that such authoriza- tion alone would be productive of the im- portant results in contemplation. However extensively beneficial in their present and re- mote effects the privileges thus conferred might prove, they would nevertheless be unsatisfac- tory and incomplete, so long as they were unaccompanied with a government competent and willing to watch over and secure their con- tinuance. While it should be in the power of any individual to suspend or annul them, what guarantee, in fact, would exist for their per- manence and durability? What solid basis, whereon the capital and industry, which they might be calculated to elicit, could repose in security ?

The confidence, indeed, which an impartial governor might inspire, would most probably, as often as the colony might be blessed with a chief of this description, give a momentary impulse to the activity of the colonists, and create a temporary prosperity among them ; but the shortness of his administration will always interrupt the completion of his projects, and the caprice, imbecility, or injustice of some one or other of his successors, like the blast of the sirocco, wither up the tender shoots of pros- perity, which a consistent and protecting go- vernment would have nurtured and brought

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 363

to maturity. The experience of the past has sufficiently evinced the little dependence, that is to be placed on the degree of countenance and protection, which the system of one gover- nor, however beneficial the prosecution of it might prove, is likely to meet with from his successor. It is, indeed, in the nature of man, to prefer his own projects to those of any other. There is a degree of pleasure in striking off from the beaten path, and rambling in the un- trodden wilds of speculation and experiment, which is alone sufficient, without the help of bad motives, to account for the diversity of policy, by which the administration of the va- rious governors have been contra-distinguished. This inherent principle of our nature, so averse to the realization of every beneficial design, which is not capable of immediate development, ought evidently to be counteracted, and not encouraged, as it is at present, to the utmost point, to which an uncontrolled and ridiculous caprice may choose to indulge it. The existing system of government is, in fact, a woof of in- consistency, from which no great harmonious tissue can proceed. A gentleman is appointed to this important situation: — on his arrival in the colony he finds no council, no house of assembly, not even a colonial secretary to assist him :— a stranger, and naturally unacquainted with its interests, he in necessarily obliged to have re-

364 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

course to some person or other for advice : — to avoid the appearance of ignorance, which, how- ever, he cannot but possess, he will not most probably apply to the gentleman whom he supersedes; and he again, from a principle of delicacy, will not be forward in offering his advice unsolicited : — those, who had been the assistants, and perhaps able assistants of the latter, will keep aloof, as much out of respect to the gentleman whom they had last served, as from that fear of obtrusion, that feeling of diffidence, which is inherent in persons of real merit and probity ; — so that it is ten to one but he falls into the hands of the faction, who had been the enemies of his predecessor, only perhaps, because he had too much honour and integrity to promote their selfish views, at the expense of the public weaL Scarcely, therefore, will this gentleman have quitted the colony, before the whole of the supers- tructure, which he had been rearing, will have been pulled down, and another of a different description commenced in its stead. Such has almost invariably been, and such will conti- nue to be, the conduct of the actual government ; — nothing judicious or permanent can ever proceed from it. How then, it may be asked, can prosperity be expected to flow from sources so precarious and inconstant ? Are they cal- culated to supply that regular equal stream

THE PRESENT POLICY OF THIS COLONY. 365

of security and confidence, which has been found essential to the progress of improve- ment ? But, were the existing system of go- vernment essentially conservative in its na- ture, instead of being virtually destructive, it would still prove inadequate and inefficient. The circumstances and wants of this colony will vary every year, and consequently require either such partial modifications, or entire alterations of polity, as may be suited to each progressive stage of advancement. Its government, there- fore, ought to be so constituted, as not only to possess the power of revising old laws, but also of framing new ones. It ought, in fact, to in- volve in itself a creative as well as a conserva- tive faculty; — a faculty which may enable it to accommodate its measures to every change of situation, and to provide an instant remedy for every unforeseen and prejudicial contingency. Nothing short of this will suffice to inspire that confidence, which alone can be productive of permanent prosperity. The government of an individual, however respectable he may be, will always engender distrust and cramp exertion. Man is distinguished from the rest of the cre- ation by his circumspection and providence. There must exist a moral probability of reaping, before he will venture to sow. This cautious calculating disposition, too, is most predomi- nant in those, who are in the most easy circum-

366 VARIOUS ALTERATIONS SUGGESTED IN

stances. Where the liability to incur loss is greatest, the spirit of enterprise is generally most restrained. But this class, which contains the great capitalists of all countries, are precise- ly those, whose means, if they could be enticed into activity, would be productive of the most beneficial results. No soil is so barren, no cli- mate so forbidding, as not to present facilities more or less favourable to the absorption of ca- pital, and the extension of industry. Where- ever the tide of improvement is at its height and a reflux ensues, it is to the impolicy of the government, and not to the sterility of the coun- try, that this retrogression is to be attributed. Prosperity and happiness belong to no climate; — they are indigenous to no soil : — they have been known to fly the allurements of the fertile vale, and to nestle in the crags of the barren moun- tain : — the plains of Latium could not secure their stay, yet have they freely alit on the snow-capt summits of Helvetia : — they have been the faith- ful companions of freedom in all her wanderings and persecutions :— they have never graced the triumphs of injustice and oppression.

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 367

PART IV.

Various Changes proposed in the Form of Government.

IT being thus clear and indubitable that free representative governments are the only foundation, on which the prosperity and hap- piness of communities can safely repose, it only remains to ascertain, how far the actual circumstances and situation of this colony are compatible with the concession of so great and important a privilege. At my very offset in this work, after glancing in a cursory manner at the history of the most celebrated ancient and modern empires, and shewing that their progress keep pace with their freedom, and that their retrogradation is to be dated only from the epoch, when they fell under the do- minion of arbitrary and ambitious despots, whose successors gradually completed the work of destruction, which they had commenced, — I was compelled in candour to admit, that the heterogeneous ingredients, of which this colony

368 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

was compounded, did not, at the period of its foundation, afford his Majesty's government the power, if they had even possessed the will, to establish a free representative system. It is, therefore, incumbent on me, now that I have demonstrated the beneficial influence, which free governments have in promoting the prosperity of communities in general, and have proved that this colony has, for many years, been lan- guishing in a state of impeded growth, and tot- tering imbecility, from the inefficiency of its administration to adopt those measures, that are necessary to its revigoration ; — I say it is incumbent on me to shew, that the component parts of this body politic have undergone such a change, since the period of its creation, as will warrant its identification in this respeet with other states, and justify the conclusion, that such institutions are essential to its welfare, as have been found conducive to theirs.

It must be almost superfluous to state, that, when this colony was formed, it was com- posed, with the exception of its civil and mili- tary establishments, entirely of convicts. It was consequently impossible that a body of men, who were all under the sentence of the law, and had been condemned for their crimes to suffer either a temporary suspension, or total deprivation of thp civil rights of citizens, could

THE FOBM OF GOVERNMENT. 369

be admitted to exercise one of the most impor- tant among the whole of them — the elective franchise ; and to have vested this privilege in the civil and military authorities, both of whom then, as at present, were subject to martial law, and were besides at that time without landed property, the only standard I conceive, by which the right either of electing, or being elected, can in any country be properly regulated, would have been equally improper and absurd. A council indeed might have been appointed, but even an institution of this kind might have clogged the wheels of the government by its opposition, and could have been of but little assistance with its advice ; for, as it has been already stated, there was but one object to be pursued, and that was to promote by all means the agriculture of the colony, so as to emancipate it, as soon as possible, from a preca- rious and dangerous dependence on other coun- tries. Until, therefore, the free inhabitants of the colony had increased to a sufficient number to exercise the elective franchise, and until its productive powers had outstripped its consump- tive, and it became necessary either to create new markets for its produce within, or to direct a portion of its strength to the raising of ar- ticles for exportation to other countries, the esta- blishment of a free representative government

B B

370 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

would not have been expedient, had it even been practicable.

The period, at which the produce of this set- tlement fairly exceeded the internal demand for it, may, as I have already noticed, be da- ted so far back as the year 1804, being about sixteen years after the period of its foundation. It has been already seen that the harvests of that, and the succeeding year, were so abun- dant, that no sale could be obtained for more than one half of the crop ; — that had it not been for a tremendous flood, which happened in 1806, the majority of the cultivators must have abandoned their farms, and sought for other occupation ; — and that there has fortu- nately been since that period a succession of floods and droughts, which, with the exception of two or three seasons of equal plenty, have kept the productive powers of the colony nearly on a level with its consumptive, or else the situa- tion of the settlers, deplorable as it now is, would have been infinitely more so. How radically defective, then, must be the government of this colony, when what would be calamities of the most serious and afflicting nature in a well organized community are here blessings ! Is it in the nature of things to adduce more weighty arguments in proof of the necessity

THR FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 371

which has existed since the above period for its supercession ? Ought not a government, that would have felt the importance, and have pos- sessed the power of creating new channels of consumption for agricultural produce to have been then instituted ? This great object, it has been already shewn, could have been in no way so easily accomplished, as by the erection of distilleries. To have diverted the attention of any part of the agriculturists from the growth of corn would have been highly impolitic in a country, where the. greatest and most fertile portion of the arable land is subject to such awful inundations. On the contrary, it was and still is expedient, that the whole agricultural energies of the colony should be confined to the production of grain, until the surplus be- come so great as to leave no chance whatever of these inundations being any longer attended with their former baneful consequences. But this can only be effected by creating a sure and adequate market for this surplus ; and, whe- ther such market is to be found in the colony, or to be sought for abroad, no power either would have been, or is so fully competent to accomplish this important purpose, as an inde- pendent legislature chosen from the midst of the community, whose interests are identified with its own.

BB 2

372 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IK

With respect to the expediency, or even prac- ticability of instituting a body of this nature, so long as sixteen years back, I am aware that there exists a great difference of opinion among the most respectable class of the colonists themselves. For my own part, however small may have been the number of those from, or by whom a colo- nial legislature could at that time have been formed, I consider of but little moment in solv- ing this great problem. The only question, it appears to me, to be ascertained is, whether a legislative assembly, however small the number of whom they might have been composed, and however limited the body of electors by whom they might have been chosen,would not have done their utmost to promote their own interests, or, what would have been the same thing, the welfare of the community which they represented. lean- not conceive the possibility of any one's doubting that such would have been their conduct ; and. in this case, what power could have been insti- tuted in the colony, that would have been so well calculated to foster its infant efforts, and develop its nascent prosperity, as one that would have been invested with the faculties of legislation ; or, in other words, with the autho- rity to enact as a matter of course those mea- sures, of which the existing government has not had sufficient influence to procure the authori- zation ?

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 373

The expediency, however, of having esta- blished a house of assembly in the colony at the period in question, is at this moment, perhaps, a matter rather of curious speculation, than of profitable inquiry. Extensively beneficial, as would in all probability have been its effects, it is nevertheless useless to deplore an omission, which cannot now be remedied. Nor has the absence, perhaps, of this important institution been altogether without its advantages. It has, at least, indisputably proved the inefficiency of the present system of government, and that the colony could not have sunk, under any other form of administration whatever, to a lower ebb of poverty and wretchedness, nor have be- come a heavier and more unproductive burthen to the mother country. The want, therefore, of an internal legislature has combined every consideration, that could be adduced in proof of the necessity of changing the present system, and adopting in its stead that form of govern- ment, which has been found so salutary and efficacious in all countries, where it has been established. The only question, that remains to be ascertained, is, whether the colony is now in a state of maturity for the reception of so im- portant a privilege as the elective franchise ; and this, I conceive, will be best answered by a reference to the numerical strength of its free population. At the general muster or census

374 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

concluded on the 19th of November, 1817, there were found to be in all the various settle- ments and districts of the colony of New South Wales, and its dependencies, twenty thousand three hundred and twenty-eight souls, — of whom sixteen thousand six hundred and sixty- four were in the various towns and districts belonging to Port Jackson. Out of these there were six hundred and ten soldiers, and six thousand two hundred and ninety-seven con- victs, leaving a free population, independently of the military, of nine thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven souls. At Newcastle, a set- tlement about sixty miles to the northward of Port Jackson, there were five hundred and fifty souls, about seventy of whom were free. At the settlements of the Derwent and Port Dairy mple, there were in all three thousand one hundred and fourteen souls, of whom two thou- sand five hundred and fifty-four were at the former place, and five hundred and sixty at the latter: — out of these there were about two hun- dred soldiers, but the number of free persons I have not been able precisely to discover. As these settlements, however, include the majority of the colonists and their families, who were removed from Norfolk Island; and as by far the greater proportion of the convicts, who have been transported from this country, have been sent to Port Jackson, I have no doubt that the number

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 375

of free persons there may be safely estimated at three fourths of their entire population, seeing that is about two thirds of the population of Port Jackson. Accordingto this rate of computation, therefore, the number of free persons in these two settlements, after previously deducting the two hundred military, will have amounted, at this period, to about two thousand one hundred and eighty-six souls. It may, consequently, be per- ceived, that the grand total of the free popula- tion of all these various colonies in the latter end of November, 1817, maybe safely estimated to have been eleven thousand nine hundred and seventy -three, being an excess of four thousand four hundred and seventy above the number of convicts, or in the proportion of more than three to two.

As the establishment of the legislative assem- bly in question could not, however, be well effected before the end of the year 1820, it may not be altogether irrelevant to ascertain, what will be the probable amount of the free population at that period. The number of births in the colony cannot at present be computed under two thousand annually ; — since the increase in these various settlements between the month of November, 1816, and the month of Novem- ber, 1817, is found to have been three thousand two hundred and eighty-nine souls ; and the

3T6 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

number of convicts transported thither from the first of January, 1816, to the first of January, 1818, was only three thousand one hundred and eight. Allowing, therefore, that one half of these, or one thousand five hundred and fifty- four, were transported to the colony during the year 1817, the increase, that took place there, from birth and emigration, will have been one thousand seven hundred and thirty- five ; to which if we add five hundred, the num- ber of persons that probably quit the colony annually, the actual rate of increase in the free population in the course of the year 1817, may be fixed at two thousand two hundred and thirty-five souls. Of these the surplus above two thousand is perhaps composed of emigrants, and the remainder of births. If we add to these one thousand more, who it may be safely calculated yearly become free by pardon, or expiration of servitude, we have an annual augmentation to the free population of three thousand two hundred and thirty-five souls : — so that if we take the year 1817, as a standard of computation, (and it is evidently a low one,) the free population will amount by the end of the year 1820, to at least twenty-one thousand six hundred and seventy-eight souls. This is an elective body much more extensive than is to be found in several of our West India islands, where houses of assembly have been long esta-

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 377

blished. But, as this free population is of a mixed description, — and composed as well of persons, who have been convicts, and have become free either by the expiration of their respective sentences, or by pardon, — as of those, who have been born in the colony, or have emi- grated to it, and have never suffered the penal- ties of the law, — a very delicate question here arises, as to the propriety of extending to the first of these classes the privilege of being ad- mitted into the legislative body. There is, 1 am aware, a party in the colony, by whom the very notion of granting such a privilege to a class of men, who have been subject to the lash of the law, would be treated as a chimera preg- nant with the most fatal consequences to this infant community. In this, as in most other societies, there is an aristocratic body, who would monopolize all situations of power, dignity, and emolument, and put themselves in a posture to domineer alike over the govern- ment and the people. If you consult one of this faction (they deserve no milder appellation) he will tell you that it is dangerous to vest any authority, beyond the narrow circle of his own immediate friends. Until the administration of General Macquarie, this body considered them- selves possessed of an equal right to the gover- nor's confidence, as if they stood in the same relation to him, which the nobility of this coun-

378 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

try bear to the king, and were de jure his here ditary counsellors. Before his government the great body of the people, I mean of such as had become free, scarcely possessed any privi- lege, but that of suing, and being sued in the courts of civil jurisdiction. The whole power, and nearly the whole property and commerce of the colony, were in the hands of this faction, who with a very few exceptions were com- posed of the civil and military, and of persons, who had belonged to these bodies formerly. And even in those few solitary instances, which could be adduced, of persons originally convicts, who were allowed to acquire an in- dependence, their prosperity was to be traced to the patronage and protection afforded them by some member of the aristocratic junta, to whom they either acted as agents in the dis- posal of their merchandize (for it was consi- dered by these gentlemen derogatory to their dignity to keep shop and sell openly) — or re- sorted for the purchase of goods on their own accounts. At the prosperity, however, and im- portance of this faction, the present governor has levelled many a deadly blow within these last ten years; — but more particularly in pro- hibiting the military to hold lands, or to be con- cerned in traffic, — in raising to situations of the highest trust and dignity many deserving persons who had been convicts, — and in throwing

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT,. 379

open the ports of the colony to an unlimited importation of all sorts of merchandize. But he has not effected these radical and salutary changes in the colonial policy, without having encountered a long and inveterate hostility. Many have been the attempts, which this fac- tion have made to vilify his motives, and mis- represent his actions; but to every charge of his enemies his unshaken integrity, and un- wearied zeal for the conscientious performance of his duties, have proved a sufficient refutation. The opinion of this gentleman, with respect to the expediency of adopting a liberal system, that may prove an effectual stimulus to reform- ation, and good conduct in those, who have unhappily deviated from the path of rectitude, has been expressed unequivocally both in his dispatches, and in the prominent measures of his government, — and will deservedly carry with it more weight, than the whole collected op- position, which I anticipate from those, who have been his opponents and calumniators. The covert aim of these men is to convert the ignominy of the great body of the people into an hereditary deformity. They would hand it down from father to son, and raise an eternal barrier of separation between their offspring, and the offspring of the unfortunate convict. They would establish distinctions, which may serve hereafter to divide the colonists into

380 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

castes ,* — and although none among them dares publicly avow, that future generations should be punished for the crimes of their progenitors, yet such are their private sentiments ; and they would have the present race branded with dis- qualification, not more for the sake of pampering their own vanity, than with a view to reflect dis- grace on the families of the disfranchised parents, and thus cast on their own children and descend- ants that future splendour and importance, which they consider to be their present peculiar and distinguishing characteristics. Short - sighted fools ! they foresee not the consequences of their narrow machinations ! They know not that they would be sowing the seeds of future discords and commotions, and that, by exalting their immediate offspring, they would occasion the eventual degradation and overthrow of their posterity. Such would be the result of their ambition ; — for it is the curse of injustice that it brings with it sooner or later its own punish- ment. Happily for the colony the realization of their projects depends not upon themselves ; — and his Majesty's ministers will not lend their sanction to schemes of private aggrandizement, which can only be accomplished by the sacrifice of the public good. If these men have not themselves the sagacity to dive into futurity, and to foresee the dangers and contests, to which

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 381

unjust privileges and distinctions always give birth, shall the government be equally blind and improvident ? Shall they, in the short space of thirty years, forget the benevolent designs, with which this colony was founded, and con- vert, what was intended as an asylum for re- pentant vice, not into a house merely of salutary correction, which may moderate with reviving morality, and cease entirely with complete re- formation,— but into a prison of endless torture, where, though the sufferings of the body may terminate, the worst species of torture, — the endurements, and mortifications of the soul, are to be perpetual ? Shall a vile faction be allowed to inflict on the unfortunate convict a punishment infinitely greater than that, to which he has been sentenced by the violated majesty of the laws ? Has not a jury of impar- tial freemen solemnly investigated the case of every individual, who has been transported to this colony? And have not the measure and duration of their punishments been apportioned to their respective offences ? Is it then for any body of men to assert, that the law has been too lenient, and that it is necessary to inflict an ulte- rior punishment, which shall have no termination but in the grave ? Shall the unhappy culprit, exiled from his native shore, and severed per- haps for ever from the friends of his youth, — the objects of his first and best affections, after

382 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

years of suffering and atonement, still find no resting place, — no spot where he may hide his shame and endeavour to forget his errors? Shall the finger of scorn and derision be point- ed at him wherever he betake himself? And must he for ever wander a recreant and outcast on the face of the earth, — seeking in vain some friendly shore, where he may at length be freed from ignominious disabilities, and restored to the long lost enjoyment of equal rights and equal protection ?

I am aware, it may be here urged, that these men, if they were to return to this country, could never enjoy the privileges, for which I am contending ; and that the very same laws, which have fixed the bounds of their corporal punish- ment, have deprived them for ever of the most valuable rights of citizens. To this I reply, that in this country, whither if the whole of the convicts, who have been exiled from its shores, were to return, they would form but an incon- siderable portion of the people, all such dis- qualifications, as the law has annexed to con- viction in a court of justice, are good policy; because they tend to promote virtue and dis- countenance vice. But the very same grounds of policy require that such disqualifications should not exist in New South Wales. There the great mass of the people are composed of

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 383

persons, who have been under the operation of the law, and who were transported with the avowed intention of the legislature to effect, their reformation. How then is this great philanthropic end to be best attained ? Is it by holding out no inducements to good conduct,— no distinction between repentant vice and in- corrigible enormity ? Those who have been convicted of the higher order of offences, and have been in consequence transported for life, are from the very nature of their sentences precluded from ever enjoying the privilege in question, unless, indeed, their very exemplary conduct subsequently induce the governor to extend to them the benefit of the king's par- don. This, however, is an indulgence at pre- sent so rarely accorded, that the whole of this class may be in a manner considered as being without the pale of citizenship ; and is it, there- fore, such only as have been convicted of crimes, to which the law has annexed the minor penal- ties of seven or fourteen years' transportation, who could generally become candidates for a seat in the legislative assembly ? How many of this description have been detected in their first offence, — in their very offset in the ca- reer of criminality? How many ever after- wards deplore their errors in sackcloth and ashes, and conduct themselves in the most correct and unexceptionable manner? And

3S4 VARIOUS CHANCES PROPOSED IN

shall no distinction be made between them, and the still persevering offender, whom no induce- ments can withhold, — no punishments deter from the commission of fresh enormities? Shall the novice in crime and the veteran be placed on the same footing — and held in equal estimation ? To what end do they profess themselves to be Christians, who can maintain such infernal doc- trines ? How can they reconcile them with that universal charity and good will inculcated in their religion ? How can they themselves expect pardon of their God, who would thus withhold oblivion from their repentant fellow creatures ? If it be then alike conformable to the principles of Christianity and sound policy, to make a discrimination between the reformed sinner, and the still hardened and abandoned profligate, what incentive to good conduct would prove so efficacious, as the prospect of regain- ing, after years of unimpeachable integrity, all those civil rights, which they had forfeited, — of becoming once more privileged to act as jury- men, magistrates, and legislators? Such a pos- sibility would quickly revive the latent sparks of virtue, wherever they were not quite ex- tinct, and electrify the mind, when all other applications would fail to rouse it from its despondence and lethargy. And shall not this sole efficacious remedy be administered ; because a set of interlopers,, — persons in no wise con-

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 385

nected with the purposes for which this colony was founded, wish to monopolize all the re- spectable offices of the government, —all the functions of emolument, power, and dignity to themselves? Shall the vital interests of the whole community sink before the ambitious projects of a few designing individuals, who have no object in view, but their own personal ag- grandizement, and the maintenance of a«elf-as- sumed aristocratic importance ? And who would build their own and their families' prosperity on the ruins of the social edifice, on the misery and degradation of thousands ? But it is useless to enlarge on this topic : ministers will not allow their judgments to be warped by the subtle re- presentations of this faction. In organizing that new constitution for this colony, of which every motive of humanity and policy conspires to demonstrate the necessity, they will be actuated solely by those principles, that are best calcu- lated to further the philanthropic and enlight- ened ends, which were contemplated by the legislature at the period of its foundation. The good of the many will not be sacrificed to the sordid views of the few, and no disqualifications will be permitted, but such as are confessedly necessary for the repression of vice, and the promotion of morality and religion.

But, while I am thus contending against the

386 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

total Exclusion of such, as may have been con- victs, from the enjoyment of this great privi- lege, I would by no means imply that the doors of the legislative assembly should be thrown open to all indiscriminately, who may happen to be free. An unrestricted ability to exercise a function of such great confidence and dignity would superinduce consequences equally fatal with those, against which I would guard:— in endeavouring to shun one extreme, it behoves us equally to avoid falling into the other. The very principle, which forbids their utter inadmis- sibility to become legislators, demands that none should be able to arrive at that dignity, but those whose conduct, during their abode in the colony, shall have been absolutely unimpeach-> able. Retrospection should not be pushed be- yond the period of their arrival ; but their subsequent behaviour should be subjected to the severest tests,— to the most rigorous scrutiny. Conviction either before a court, or a magistrate, for any offence of a criminal nature, should be a bar to their pretensions for ever. Crimes committed in this country should be overlooked, when followed by adequate atonement and indu- bitable reformation ; but the interests as well of the rising generation, as of the great body of the convicts themselves, require that the re-con- victed felon, whom neither the hope of distinc- tion can reclaim, nor the fear of punishment

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 387

deter from a recurrence to his old iniquities, should be branded with the lasting impressions of infamy, and rendered for ever afterwards in- capable of exercising so respectable, and import- ant a function, as the one in question.

With respect to the nature and extent of the property to be possessed by the members of the legislative assembly, I am of opinion, that a freehold estate of five hundred acres, in any part of the territory of New South Wales, or its dependent settlements in Van Diemen's Land, should be considered a sufficient qualification ; and that, in the case of electors, twenty acres of freehold should give the right of voting at elections for the districts, in which such free- hold property may be situated ; and that either a leasehold of the value of £5 a year, or paying a house rent of £10 a year, that of voting at elections for towns. Excepting con- viction, therefore, in this country, as a ground of exclusion, both as respects the candidates, and the constituents, and making the above variation in the standard of their respective qualifications as to property, I think that every cause of rejection, which is deemed in Canada of sufficient efficacy to invalidate the claims of either party, should be held of equal force in this colony, not only with persons, who may have been convicts, but with all such, as may c c %

388 TARIOU* CHANGE* PROPOSED IK

wish either to vote for the return of members, or to become members of the legislative body themselves. In framing1, indeed, a constitu- tion for the colony, that of Canada would, I suspect, be upon the whole the best model for imitation ; — since there is not only a much stronger affinity between the great body of its inhabitants, and those of New South Wales, than exists in any of bur other colonies ; but every succeeding year will render the approxi- mation of their character and pursuits still more complete.

There is but one topic more connected with the establishment of a house of assembly in this colony, on which I intend to comment; and I notice it not so much with a view to offer fresh arguments in support of the necessity of this measure, which, I consider, I have already sufficiently demonstrated, — as to state all the prominent reasons, which might be adduced on the occasion. It is a fundamental maxim of the British constitution, that no taxes shall be levied on the subject without his consent ex- pressed by his representatives ; — and yet duties have been exacted in this colony, for the last fifteen years, by the mere authority of the various governors. These, it has been seen, are appropriated to various purposes of internal •economy, all of great public importance and utility, to which it is but equitable that the

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 389

colonists should contribute. This system of taxation originated, I believe, with Governor King; — but, whether with the sanction of His Majesty's ministers, or from his own suggestion, I am not able to determine. Since his time, I should imagine, that not less than two hundred thousand pounds have been levied in this uncon- stitutional manner: and,until the administration of the present governor, those who paid this money had not even the satisfaction of know- ing, how any part of it was applied. From the secrecy, indeed, which was observed in the ex- penditure of this fund, and the rapacious cha- racter of his predecessor, many of the colonists suspected that very little of it was appropriated, during his time, to the purposes, for which it was intended. This misapplication of it, however, is but a matter of conjecture ; and it was pro- bably to shelter himself from the possibility of falling under a similar imputation, that the present governor has caused quarterly accounts, which are first verified by a com- mittee consisting of the lieutenant governor, and the judge advocate, and afterwards ex- amined and approved by himself, to be pub- lished for the general information. This custom, however, is a deviation, although it muot be con- fessed a good one, — from precedent : and the colonists have no guarantee that his successors

o

will not revert to the same mysterious appli- cation of this fund, that was practised by

390 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

his predecessors. In this case it may be con- verted into a fruitful source of peculation and plunder, and be at last, in a great measure, diverted from the public objects, for which it was instituted, to the satiation of private ra- pacity,— and the colonists become gradually burdened with an overbearing load of taxation, merely for the purpose of enriching their go- vernors. Be this, however, as it may, the il- legality of levying money by the authority of any individual, is, I^should presume, quite un- questionable ; and I have no doubt that, if any of the colonists had public spirit enough to resist the payment of these duties, the courts of civil jurisdiction would not enforce it ; since the decisions of these courts are founded solely on acts of parliament. The magistrates of the colony might indeed take upon themselves to direct the execution of the governor's orders, which authorize the levying of these taxes; — but I have doubts, since resistance to these orders, would not amount to an act of a criminal nature, and the point at issue would be a mere matter of debt between an individual, and the government, whether even they would consent to give such an illegal method of taxation the sanction of their support. At all events an ap- peal would lie to the civil courts, which could not avoid annulling the judgment of the magistrates, — and, consequently, declaring the

THE POK.M OF GOVERNMENT. 391

governor's conduct unwarranted arid illegal. Such an occurrence would evidently be attend- ed with the most prejudicial effects; for, not to dwell on the mortification, which the gover- nor, for the time being, would experience at discovering in so disagreeable a way that, by treading in the footsteps of his predecessors, he had been exercising a power, to which his situation gave him no claim, — there can be little doubt that a victory of this nature gained by an individual over the executive would be the signal for the institution of suits, for the re- covery of all the money, that has been levied under such an illegal and arbitrary authority. To prevent the probability of the govern- ment being forced to refund so large a sum of money to the persons, or their heirs, from whom it has been thus illegally wrested, and to legalize all future levies of duties in the colony, the establishment of a colonial legislature cer- tainly offers the most judicious and constitu- tional expedient.

I would not, that it should be considered, from the foregoing remarks, that the colo- nists are averse to taxation. On the con- trary, it is my belief that they would cheer- fully contribute whatever may be necessary for the promotion of objects purely colonial ; — but they expect, and have a right to expect, that

392 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

all such objects should be submitted to the con- sideration, and approval of their representative*, and that their money should not be taken out of their pockets, whether they will or not, by the mere ipse dixit of a governor. Few are dis- contented with the present rate of taxation, be- cause it is moderate ; and, with the exception of that small part of the colonial revenue aris- ing from duties on articles of export, may be even considered judicious; — inasmuch as the great bulk of the duties falls on luxuries, which can be dispensed with, without occasioningany material diminution of comfort and enjoyment. But all are averse to the manner, in which these duties are levied ; — for, if they once admit that a governor has the right to exact one farthing by his single authority,* what limits can be after- wards assigned to the exercise of this power ? He may, on the very same principle, tax every article of consumption, and, on the plea of pub- lic contributions, undermine the whole prosper-

* This system of taxation has at length been recognized as illegal ; and an act of Parliament passed for legalizing the duties now in force, and indemnifying the various governors, who have authorized the levying of them, until the 1st of January, 1821. This act contains also a clause impower ing the gover- nor, for the time being, to levy a duty on spirits made in the colony, which is not to exceed (he amount of the duty on spirits imported into it : — from which provision it would appear, that internal distillation either has been, or is to be permitted. See this act (the 59 Geo. 3. cap. cxiv.) in the Appendix.

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 393

ity and happiness of the community. That the different governors have been allowed to pro- secute this system without opposition, for so many years, could only have arisen from the peculiar constitution of this colony ; — but its population has now attained a degree of conse- quence and respectability, which will not much longer tamely permit such an unprecedented deviation from all constitutional authority ; and the best way to obviate the unpleasant circum- stances of the contest, to which a continuance of the present system must shortly give rise, is to create a body legally endowed with the powers of legislation.

On the expediency of appointing a council, His Majesty's ministers are, I believe, them- selves agreed ; and I will not therefore enter at great length on the subject. The arbitrary and revolting acts, which the want of a controlling body of this nature has already occasioned, fur- nish the most convincing proof of its necessity. No power, in fact, could be established, which would, at one, and the same time, prove so firm a defence to the subject, and so stable a support to the executive. A council in the colonies bears 'many points of resemblance to the House of Lords "in this country. It forms that just equipoise between the democratic and supreme powers of the state, which has been found ne-

394 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

cessary not less to repress the licentiousness of the one, than to curb the tyranny of the other. Besides, it at all times provides a remedy for the inexperience, or ignorance of governors ; and is a sort of nucleus, round which all new bodies may easily agglomerate. Like a hand- ful of veterans, in a newly raised regiment, it will be capable of setting in motion the whole machinery of the government, and establishing with the greatest celerity that organization, and discipline, which are as requisite in adminis- tration, as in war. There is but one precaution to be observed in the formation of the council:— it is to give the members of it an adequate salary, or, in other words, to insure the indepen- dent, and conscientious discharge of the duties of their highly important office.

The expediency of appointing a colonial se- cretary rests, in a great measure, on the same grounds. How can a private secretary, whom every new governor is at present under the necessity of taking out with him, be capable of entering at once upon the duties of the most complicated and laborious office in the colony ? It is evident that a considerable time must un- avoidably elapse, before he can acquire, how great soever his abilities, that fund of local information, which can alone qualify him for hi» situation. In the mean while, it is ten to

THE FOKJM OF GOVERNMENT. 396

one, but he becomes the tool of one or other of his clerks, who are for the most part con- victs; — and thus the principal acts of the governor, which, from the confidential nature of his office, are necessarily very considerably influenced by his advice, may be secretly dic- tated by persons, who possess very little prin- ciple or character, and who, if they be them- selves too insignificant to profit to an exten- sive degree by the measures of the govern- ment, may, for a trifling consideration, become the agents of richer, and more powerful indivi- duals, and the public good be inadvertently sacri- ficed on the shrine of private avarice or ambition.

The last measure, which I consider necessary to the prosperity of this colony, is a radical re- form in the courts of justice. Tt has long since been noticed that, at the principal settlement, and its dependencies, there are five courts, — one of criminal — and the other four of civil judica- ture, viz. the criminal court,the governor's court, the supreme court, the court of vice admiralty, the high court of appeals, all of which are held in Sydney, and the lieutenant governor's court, which is held in Hobart Town. The constitu- tion of these various courts has been already ex- plained ; and a mere cursory glance at their se- veral jurisdictions will convince us of the dan- ger and absurdity of their organization. To

396 VARIOUS CHANCES PROPOSED IN

commence in the order, in which I have noticed them, what can be more improper than the con- stitution of the criminal court? At the time, indeed, when this court was instituted, there was a necessity that it should consist wholly of the officers of the colony ; since they, and convicts, were the only two classes, of whom it was com- posed ; but, even then, what motive existed for excluding* the civil officers? Were they either less competent to be members of a court, whose decisions ought to be founded solely on the laws of England, — or were they less respectable than the military and naval? The bare appearance of this tribunal has long been odious and re- volting to the majority of the colonists, It is disgusting to an Englishman to see a culprit, however heinous may be his offence, arraigned before a court clad in full military costume ; — nor can it, indeed, be readily conceived that a body of men, whose principles and habits must have been materially influenced, — if not entire- ly formed, by a code altogether foreign to the laws of this country, should be able, on such occasions, to divest themselves of the soldier, and to judge as the citizen. Without meaning to impugn the general impartiality and justice of their decisions, it may be easily imagined that an individual might happen to be tradu- ced before a court, of which all, or part of the members, might from various causes be his

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 397

enemies. No one has mixed much in military society, without witnessing that esprit du corps y which is so common in regiments, and which,, however much it may contribute to their union and happiness, is, in a community of this nature, of the most dangerous tendency to the individual, against \vhom its collected fury may be levelled. It must be remembered that this colony is not like a country town, from which a regiment may be removed, the mo- ment its conduct becomes obnoxious to the in- habitants. There the regiments necessarily remain for many years; and, from this very circumstance, disputes of a much more se- rious, and rancorous nature, are apt to arise be- tween the inhabitants, and the military, than are known in this country. And this observation applies more particularly to the officers, and the superior class of the colonists : — since the disputes and contests, which take place be- tween the lower orders of the inhabitants, and the common soldiery, generally arise on the spur of the moment, and evaporate with the im- mediate cause of the provocation ; — while the others are more frequently the effect of cool, and deliberate insult, and consequently settle into a fixed, and inveterate hostility. Under these circumstances, therefore, it is not to be wondered at, that no person should feel him- self in perfect security. The respectability

398 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

of the higher order of the colonists may, in- deed, shield the generality of them from any likelihood of their being ever arraigned before this tribunal ; — but still it might happen to them to be traduced before a court composed of their bitterest foes, — not only on charges of a mixed nature, such as assault, battery, libel, &c.- — but on others of a much weightier responsibi- lity. The probability of such a contingency would be still further increased, if the governor should happen to have imbibed the same spirit of hostility against the accused, which I have supposed actuating the military. For, although the present governor, in order to render the administration of justice as unimpeachable, as the nature of this court will allow, has invari- ably appointed the members of it according to the roaster furnished by the commanding officer of the regiment, his predecessors did not, I be- lieve, invariably observe the same delicacy, nor is it incumbent on his successors to imitate his example. Any person, therefore, who may un- fortunately become obnoxious to the governor, and the officers of the regiment, or indeed any part of them, should he be accused of any of- fence, within the pale of the criminal court, might be thus forced to take his trial before his selected and implacable enemies. In this extre- mity, what could he do to rescue himself from their gripe ? He would have no right to chal-

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 399

lenge one of them ; — and, if the sanctity of an oath, and the dread of the future scorn, and de- testation of mankind, did not deter them from the commission of a crying, and palpable injustice, — his innocence, were it as clear as the noon day, would avail him nothing, and he must unavoid- ably sink, the devoted victim of foul conspiracy, and deadly revenge. I am not sufficiently ac- quainted with the history of the proceedings of this court, from the period of its institution, to shew how far the whole, or any part of this supposed case, may have been, in any instance, verified. That it may occur is sufficient to prove the necessity for changing the constitution of this court, and to justify the general anxiety, which is felt by the colonists for the introduc- tion of that right, so dear to the heart of every Englishman, — the trial by jury. It is this ines- timable privilege alone, which can insure them the tranquil enjoyment of their persons and pro- perty, and enable them, while possessed of con- scious integrity of conduct, to set at defiance the confederated efforts of their enemies, and to despise both the open attacks of power, and the secret contrivances of malignity.

The constitution of the governor's court, and of the supreme court, is liable to the same objection. They are both composed of the judges, who have each a vote in their respec-

400 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

tive courts, and of two members specially ap- pointed by the governor : — so that none of those causes of challenge, which are held sufficient in this country to disqualify a juror, are of any validity in the courts of this colony. In the governor's court, indeed, the two members are to be appointed from among the respectable inhabitants ; — but, although the governor him- self is the only judge of the measure of their re- spectability, he could not well avoid selecting them out of that class, which, in case of the intro- duction of trial by jury, would have a right, from their property, and character, to be summoned as jurymen. In this court, therefore, an indi- vidual in a trial with the crown, would have a much greater chance of obtaining justice, than in the supreme court ; — because the two mem- bers of it are to be appointed from the magis- tracy, and might be selected by the governor, from their known zeal, and corrupt devoted- ness, for his service. But it is of infinitely greater importance that the decisions of this latter court should be the less exposed of the two to the possibility of bias ; because in the former the injury, which an individual could sustain, from an unjust verdict, could only amount to. £50, — and in the latter it might extend to £3000, and, consequently, occasion his utter ruin. I limit the injustice, which might arise, from the very improper. constitution of this court, to the

THK FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 401

above sum ; because, although it is competent, as I have before stated, to take cognizance of all pleas to any amount whatever, an appeal would lie, from the high court of appeals, — whose verdict, I here take it for granted, would in all crown causes be confirmatory of the judgment of the inferior court, — to the king in council, when the matter in dispute exceeded this sum. Any unjust verdict, therefore, for more than £'3000, would of course be reversed in this country ; but this is a trifling set-off against the heavy charges, to which this court is, in other respects, liable ; since few of the colonists are wealthy enough to be concerned in causes, where the matter at issue could attain so great an amount: — so that this remedy is quite beyond the reach of the majority of the inhabitants, and they are abandoned to the scourge of oppres- sion,— wherever a capricious and overwhelm- ing tyranny may choose to single out its victim. It is highly necessary, therefore, that the con- stitution of both these courts should undergo an immediate revision, and be so framed, as to insure henceforth the impartial administration of justice to oil. They are not to be tolerated,— because they cannot commit a robbery beyond this enormous amount, — and because there are some few individuals, whose prosperity is too deeply rooted to be overturned by the ma- lignant fury of vengeful despots. It must be

D D

402 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IS

evident that the power of the governor of this colony is sufficiently leviathan, — uncontrolled as he is by a council, — and possessed as he is of an incontrovertible right to nominate the most obsequious of his creatures as jurymen on all trials, whether of a civil or criminal nature, — to endanger the property, and life of every in- dividual under his government. Nor should it here be forgotten that there has been a go- vernor, who, — if the colonists had not arrested him in his iniquitous career of vengeance and despotism, — would have hurled death and de- struction from one end of the colony to the other. Without the circle of his immediate creatures — with the most favoured of whom, it is well known, that he was in a commercial partner- ship,— every individual, who either had attained affluence, or was gradually rising to it, was the object of his hatred or envy. The former he detested, not more because they had no need of his protection, than from fear they should pro- mulgate to the world his nefarious proceed- ings ; — the latter, because they were absorbing some portion of that wealth, which he wished should flow wholly into the coffers, the contents of which, at the division of the spoil, he was to have so large a share of. It does not follow, therefore, — because the present governor has not imitated his base example, — because he has sur- rounded himself with respectable counsellors,

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 403

arid a conscientious magistracy, — that we should overlook the possibility, that his very successor may undermine the whole superstructure, which he has been rearing, and become, in every respect, as great a monster, as the wretch, who before drove the colonists to desperation and rebellion. Experience is the beacon of past times set up for the guidance of future ; and those, who shape their course by it, shall avoid striking on the rocks, to which it forbids approach. Woe to the pilot, who disregards the friendly admonition, and runs on incredulous of the risk. Soon in the midst of surrounding reefs he shall, when too late, repent his temerity, and wish, that content with the experience of others he had not au- thenticated by the shipwreck of his hopes the folly of his incredulity, and the reality of the danger ! It is with governments, as wilh indi- viduals. The institutions, which have occa- sioned anarchy and devastation before, will, if persisted in, produce them again. Vile and detestable, as have been the monsters of anti- quity, the world still contains their parallels ;— and if they languish in obscurity, — if they have not attained a celebrity equally atrocious, — it is because they possess not equal facilities for the display of their real character and propensities. Human nature is still the same ; arid, wherever a field is opened for the growth of tyranny.

404 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

there that poisonous fungus, — a tyrant, — will shoot up.

But the encouragement, which these courts in general hold out for the indulgence of pri- vate animosities,— and their consequently imper- fect adaptation for the administration of justice, — are not the only reasons, that may be urged for a change in their present organization. The whole of the inhabitants of the various settle- ments in Van Diemen's Land are, in a great measure, placed without the pale of the law. They have, indeed, what is termed the lieute- nant governor's court; — but, as I have already observed, it can only take cognizance of pleas to the amount of fifty pounds, and possesses no criminal jurisdiction whatever. They are con- sequently left, in a great degree, without any internal protection from the spoliations of law- less ruffians, and from the scarcely less pernici- ous depredations of dishonest creditors. For, — although they may obtain redress in both instan- ces in the courts established at Port Jackson, — nothing but an invincible necessity will propel them to seek so distant, and expensive a reme- dy. The consequence is, that scarcely any, but delinquents of the very worst cast, as murderers and housebreakers, are ever brought to trial : — for, notwithstanding all criminal prosecutions are conducted at the cost of the government,

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 405

and the witnesses are paid their indispensable expenses from the police fund, — still, what with the period that elapses in the voyage to Port Jackson, — the delays incident to the courts them- selves,— and the time that the witnesses must generally wait, before they can obtain a passage back again, — very few of the persona, who are constrained to give evidence on such occasions, can possibly manage to resume their domestic occupations under three months. This to a set of men, who are for the most part agricul- turists, is too serious a sacrifice of private ad- vantage to public duty ; and it is not, therefore, to be wondered at, that a general disposition should be manifested by the inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land to suffer quietly the depreda- tions, that may be committed on their property, rather than incur, perhaps, the much greater loss attached to the prosecution of the offen- der. The remedy, which they possess for civil injuries, is, indeed, somewhat more palatable, — but still far too remote and expensive. And the principal reason, — why so many debts and obligations contracted in these settlements be- come matter of action before the supreme court at Port Jackson, — is to be traced to the satisfac- tion, which results from compelling those, who consider themselves privileged plunderers, and at liberty to fatten with impunity on the indus- trious, to disgorge the wealth of others, that,

406 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

leech-like, they may have sucked. The expense, however, of supporting witnesses at so great a distance from their homes, -and the precarious issue of suits in general, — induce many creditors to run the risk of voluntary payment at some future period, who would not hesitate to institute actions against their debtors, — if there were a competent tribunal within their reach. The want, therefore, of a court possessing an un- limited civil, and criminal jurisdiction, is of the most baneful consequence to these infant settle- ments. It encourages all species of crimes and dishonesty, — strikes at the very root of virtue and religion, — and cannot but have a most pernicious effect on the morals of the rising generation.

Such are the leading defects in the actual system of jurisprudence esatblished in this co- lony ; — and I think it will not be disputed that a more crude, and undigested organization of the colonial courts could hardly have been devised. Whether the judges of these courts have made any representations on the subject to his Majesty's government I am not aware ; but I should apprehend not, or surely they would have been remodelled ere this after a more perfect design. To effect this highly im- portant object would be a matter of very great ease :• — it appears to me that the following mea- sures would amply suffice. 1st, The entire

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 407

abolition of the actual courts of civil and cri- minal jurisdiction ; — 2dly, The creation in their stead of one supreme court possessing, like the Court of Exchequer, both a legal and equitable jurisdiction, and consisting of a chief justice and three puisne judges ; — 3dly, The establish- ment of trial by jury ; — and lastly, the creation of a high court of appeals to consist of the gover- nor in council. The sittings of the supreme court should only be held at Sydney, — the seat of government; but circuits should be established throughout the different districts of the colony, and of its dependent settlements in Van Die- men's Land, and commissions of assize — of nisi prius, — of oyer and terminer, — and of general gaol delivery — should be issued by the governor to the judges at stated periods, and they should determine among themselves their respective circuits. These courts of assize, &c. should possess the same power, as belongs to similar courts in this country, — and, in some respects, it might be advisable that they should be vested with a still more extensive authority. In the settlements in Van Dieraen's Land, I a#i of opinion, that no appeal should be allowed from the decisions of the court of assize, &c. to the supreme court at Sydney, — unless the verdict should exceed three hundred pounds ; — but it would, of course, be proper that the judges, dur- ing the circuits, should possess the power of

408 VARIOUS CHANGES PROPOSED IN

granting new trials, on the same grounds, on which such are accorded in this country. In judgments, however, for more than the above sum, an appeal to the supreme court should be permitted.

With respect to the civil jurisdiction of the courts of assize, &c. in the various districts belonging to Port Jackson, I think it ought to be considerably curtailed, and that their decision should not be final in any instance whatever ; — because the removal of causes to the supreme court would be attended with a comparatively trifling expense, and inconveni- ence to the parties. From the judgment of this latter court itself, I am of opinion, that an ap- peal should lie in all causes, where the damages might be estimated at more than one thousand pounds, to the high court of appeals, and that its decisions should be conclusive in all pleas under the amount of three thousand pounds ; — but, where the matter in dispute exceeded this sum, that an appeal should lie en dernier resort to the king in council. If to these courts were added a court of admiralty, possessing both a civil and criminal jurisdiction, — the system of jurisprudence would be quite adequate to all the present necessities of the colony ; — justice would be brought home to the doors of all his Majesty's subjects in these remote and extended

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 409

settlements; — the delay and expense now attendant on civil and criminal prosecutions, would be in a great measure obviated; — the loyal and industrious would be effectually pro- tected, both from the secret depredations of the midnight plunderer, and from the open dishonesty of the unprincipled debtor : — hun- dreds of indolent and profligate persons, who now prey in one way, or another, on the hard earned savings of thrift and frugality, would be compelled to resort to the pursuits of indus- try for a subsistence ; — vice and immorality would be checked,— and the wealth, happiness, and virtue of the community at large rapidly flourish and expand.

Of all the changes, or modifications, which I nave thus ventured to recommend in the polity of this colony, — the creation of a council, — the appointment of a colonial secretary,— and these alterations in the system of its jurisprudence, — are the only measures, which would be attend- ed with an increase of expense. The establish- ment of a house of assembly might, of course, be effected without any cost whatever ; and even the remodelling of the courts of justice would be productive of but a very trifling addition to the scale of the civil establishment. The three judges, who at present preside in the various courts, might be transferred to the supreme

410 VAKTOUS CHANGES PROPOSED, &C.

court, which I have recommended to be sub- stituted in their stead ;— so that the appointment of one new judge is the principal additional expense, of which this re-organization of the courts would be productive. It is true that it would be necessary to place all the puisne judges on the same footing in point of salary, and likewise to appoint an attorney general to act in behalf of the crown ; — but all this might be liberally accomplished for about six thousand pounds per annum. As to the court of admiralty, the chief justice might be ap- pointed to preside in it, whenever circum- stances might require it to be held ; — but this necessity would occur so seldom, that no addi- tional salary need be allowed him on this ac- count. A few barristers would be necessary, besides the attorney general, to support the respectability of these courts ; — but I consider that the practice arising out of them would be sufficiently extensive to repay a few gentle- men of the bar very liberally for the sacrifices, they might make, in emigrating to this colony, — and that government need not hold out any pecuniary inducements to effect this object; — although it is only four or five years since two attornies were each allowed .£300 per annum, by way of encouragement for them to go out, and practise in the courts at present established there. Since that time, however, two more

ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING, &C. 411

have voluntarily emigrated to the colony, with- out any salary whatever, and have found that there is sufficient litigation, without the assist- ing liberality of the government. An addi- tion, therefore, of £6000 per annum to the civil establishment of this colony, would effect the great radical reformation in its polity, of which it has been the main object of this work to prove the wisdom and necessity ; — while, on the other hand, the savings, which this country would derive from the adoption of the various alterations proposed, would be found not only in the almost immediate check, that would be imposed on the rapidly increasing expendi- ture of this colony, — but still more in the great permanent reduction in it, that would be the eventual consequence. The best means of ac- complishing these highly important ends shall be the subject of the following chapter.

On the Means of reducing the Expenses of this Colony.

The establishment of a free constitution, in the place of the arbitrary authority of an indi- vidual, would superinduce so many privileges, of which the colonists have hitherto been debarred, that they would not at first be fully sensible of the nature, and extent of their new acquisitions. The great facilities, which would be presented to

412 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

agricultural, and commercial enterprize, would not at once be generally perceived, or exten- sively embraced. Industry, though one of the most active principles of human nature, settles, when long restrained, into a habit of inertion, which cannot be instantly overcome. When the mounds, within which this principle has been long confined, are suddenly removed, it will not of itself rush at once into every new chan- nel in its way, and stop only, when it has found its own level. It is not, like fluids, possessed of an inherent elasticity and tendency to motion, but requires a directing impulse to set and con- tinue it in activity, — and its activity will then only be in proportion to the power and energy applied. It is not, therefore, to be expected,— because the great fundamental changes, which I have recommended in the polity of this colony, would, if adopted, immediately create new sources of profitable occupation, and completely unfetter the long restrained industry and enter- prize of its inhabitants, — that they are at once to take full advantage of their situation. There is in man a timidity, which, though not sufficient to curb the adventurous spirit of his nature, tends materially to check and repress it. This principle alone, therefore, would suffice to prevent the more sober, and discreet part of the colonists from rushing headlong into the various new avenues of profitable occupation,

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY. 413

that would be open to them ; — but there is, in their poverty, a still more effectual impedi- ment. Though labour is itself the origin and measure of all wealth, it contributes but little to public, or private advantage, when left to its own isolated and unconnected efforts. It is only, — when in a state of union, and — when sub- jected to the controul of a directing intelli- gence, which can combine its energies, and ren- der them subservient to the attainment of some single end, — that it becomes capable of effecting great beneficial results. But this necessary com- bination of labour can only be maintained by the help of capital ; and, where such capital does not exist, these great united efforts, — the effect of the gradual accumulation of wealth, — and the main cause of the prosperity of all ancient and populous communities, — cannot be immediately organized and established. This observation, in its reference to this colony, it will be seen, bears more particularly on the commer- cial privileges, of which its inhabitants would thus become possessed. These undoubtedly would not be extensively embraced, — until a very considerable accumulation of capital should have arisen from the progress and perfection of agriculture. This and manufactures are, therefore,the only two immediate channels, that remain for the absorption of labour, and the development of industry. The latter, I have

414 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

long since endeavoured to prove, would never have occupied any share of the attention of the colonists, if those encouragements, which were at the disposal of the government, had been bestowed on the former. The manufacturing;

O

system, now so rapidly gaining ground, has been one of the retributive consequences of the short- sighted and illiberal policy, of which this unfor- tunate colony has been so long the victim, — and will cease of itself, whenever the existing im- pediments to the extension of agriculture shall be removed, — for the best of all reasons ; because no person will select a less profitable undertak- ing, when a more profitable one, — and one re- quiring less skill, capital, and assiduity, — lies open to him. Agriculture, therefore, as soon as it shall be freed from its present restraints, will afford the readiest, and most accessible channel for carrying off the large accumulation of stagnant labour, which at present infests this colony. It is this mass of superfluous labourers, — for M horn there exists only a fictitious demand, — and with whom the government are at present obliged to give a bounty, in the shape of cloth- ing and provisions, to induce the settlers to ac- cept their services, — that constitute the main source of the great and increasing expenditure of this colony ; — and it is to this point alone that all radical, and comprehensive schemes of re- trenchment must be directed. The impoverish-

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY. 415

ed condition of the colonists, — to which cir- cumstance the expenses of the government are mainly attributable, — arises from the means of employment not keeping pace with the rapid increase in the population ; — and yet, perhaps, there is no community, in which equal encou- ragements to industry are to be found. It has already been stated, that, within the last six years, the population of this colony has actual- ly doubled itself; — in other words, it has advan- ced in this respect with a celerity nearly four times as great as the United States of America, — a country whose rapid numerical increase has been a subject of astonishment to the whole world. It may, therefore, be perceived, that this unparalleled augmentation in the popula- tion of the colony must of itself afford an unpre- cedented stimulus to agriculture; — a stimulus, probably, with which the agricultural progress of any other country could not keep pace. It is well known that Poland,— which is the great- est corn country in Europe, — and whose whole strength is directed to the pursuits of agricul- ture,— does not export more than one month's consumption of grain for its population. Ame- rica exports somewhat less, but would be able, without doubt, to export somewhat more, if the collected force of its inhabitants were ap- plied to the raising of corn ; — yet still neither the one, nor the other of these countries would

416 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

be enabled to support such a rapid increase of population, as is taking place in this colony. Such, however, is its fertility, that the vast encouragement afforded by this unprecedented augmentation in its numbers, — who it must be re- collected, are for the most part adults, and not, — as in the case of old established societies, — in- fants, and, in consequence, not gifted with the full powers of consumption, — so prodigious, I say, is its fertility, that there is far from a sufficient de- mand for labour. The settlements in Van Die- in an 's Land alone, — on the occasion of the flood, that took place in the month of March, 1817, at the Hawkesbury, on the banks of which have been formed the principal agricultural establishments, and where, for the causes I have already explained, the colonists, in most in- stances, allow their stacks to remain within the influence of these destructive inundations, — were able to supply Port Jackson with about twenty thousand bushels of wheat, — the whole of which was raised without any probability of a mar- ket, and would have perished in the hands of the growers, or, at best, have become the food of hogs, had it not been for the great loss of grain occasioned by the overflowing of the above river. It may, therefore, be perceived, that the colonists in Van Dieman's Land raise, on the strength of the bare possibility of a flood happening at the principal settlement,

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY. 4l7

very nearly as much corn as is required for their own consumption ; and there can be no doubt, if their industry was encouraged to the utmost, that they would be enabled to export at least three times as much, as they thus ca- sually furnished in the year 1817. The settle- ments, however, at Port Jackson, cannot pre- tend to equal fertility of soil ; — yet even their productive powers are considerably cramped by the want of an adequate market. How this most important object might be effected, and profitable occupation created for all the labour that is now, or may be hereafter disposable in the colony, I have already explained at consi- derable, length ; — and, it is under the presump- tion that my recommendations on this head will be deemed worthy of adoption, that I am about to submit a plan for gradually diminishing the colonial expenditure.

The readiest way of accomplishing this object would be to abolish at once the system of vic- tualling and clothing the convicts from the king's stores ; but this is impracticable, and must be done judiciously, and in proportion only to the gradually increasing demand for labour. This mode of retrenchment, indeed, has already been pushed further than circum- stances have warranted. The ticket of leave system, — by which convicts are permitted to go

E E

418 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

on their own hands, and administer in any way that they can to their own wants, — though first intended as a reward to the really reformed and meritorious convict, has of late years been se- sorted to, — as the most efficacious means of les- sening the expenses of the government. And hence the very end and aim of this colony, — the reformation of the lawless gang who are transported to its shores, — have been postponed to a paltry saving, unworthy the character of the nation, and subversive in a great measure of the philanthropic intentions, with which the legislature were originally actuated. The alarming increase of crime, that has taken place within the last few years, is the re-action of this pernicious and mercenary system, which has already been carried to such an extent, as to endanger the lives and property of every honest, and well disposed inhabitant of the colony. This system, so injurious of itself, has been powerfully seconded by the lax and indiscrimi- nate manner, in which convict servants have been assigned to the various settlers. Being in most instances freed or emancipated convicts themselves, many of them possess but little cha- racter, and in fact only accept the different in- dulgences, that are held out to colonization, with a view to the immediate profit, which they can derive from them, and without any inten- tion of performing the remote conditions, which

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY. 419

they tacitly or expressly enter into with the go- vernment. So long as their servants are victualled and clothed at the cost of the crown, they avail themselves fully of their services ; — but the mo- mentthis great indulgence ceases, they generally compound with them, and, — in consideration of the performance of a stipulated quantity of labour free of expense, — grant them an exemp- tion from their employment for the remainder of the year, — and, consequently, a licence to prowl about the country, and to plunder, at every convenient opportunity, the honest and deserving part of the community. And al- though the present governor has taken every step, that could be devised for the suppression of this pernicious practice, yet,— in consequence of the thinly inhabited state of the colony, and the remoteness of the various agricultural set* tlements from one another,— circumstances, which prevent the appointment of proper per- sons, to detect and punish such violations of public orders, — his efforts have been in a great degree unavailing. He is well aware of the nature of the disease, under which the colony is languishing, — but he has not the power to administer the only effectual remedy. Create but a sufficient market for the colonial pro- duce, and labour will become too valuable to be suffered thus to remain in inactivity. It will then, and not before, be the interest of the

E E 2

420 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

settlers to push their servants' exertions to the utmost. The competition, that will then ex- ist for the products of labour, will be the best guarantee for its proper application. The me- thod, which I am about to submit for the sup- pression of this alarming state of anarchy and danger, will, it must be confessed, occasion a very considerable immediate addition of ex- pense ; — but this is necessary, to rectify the great and increasing evils of the ticket of leave system, and to insure the honest and laborious colonist that security of person and property, which the ^injudicious extension, within these few years, of this narrow-minded system has so greatly endangered. Without the enjoyment of a full and sufficient protection, the colo- nists, however enlightened may be the future conduct of their government in other respects, will make but a timid and feeble advance in the various departments of internal industry. A certainty of reaping the fruits of their ex- ertions is, indeed, an indispensable prelimi- nary to the resumption of those active habits, which have been so long paralyzed, and a recurrence to which is the main stock, whereon all shoots of future retrenchment must be in- grafted. Under a hope, therefore, that an inter- nal legislature,— which I again insist can alone fully provide for the present and future neces- sities of this colony — will be established, I ven-

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY. 421

ture to propose the following plan for eventu- ally diminishing the scale of its expenditure :

';,:.

First, That the ticket of leave system, ex- cept in as far as its continuance may be really essential to the promotion of good conduct in the convicts, should be abolished.

Secondly, That the ticket of leave men, and all the convicts now in the service of indivi- duals,— whether victualled and clothed at the expense of the crown or not, — should be called in, and re-assigned either to their present mas- ters, or to others, and that these should be allowed with them the premium hereafter to be named ; but that they should be previously in every instance required to give security to the government, that such convict servants should not, on any account, be permitted to be absent from their respective employments.

Thirdly, That, instead of the present mode of victualling and clothing the convicts from the king's stores, the settlers should be allowed with them a stipulated premium, one fifth less than the actual cost of maintaining them, and that this premium should diminish one fifth an- nually from the date of the changes in the colo-r nial polity, which have been recommended.

422 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

Fourthly, That the price now directed to be paid convict servants for their extra time should be reduced from ,£10 in the men, to £6 ; and from £l to £3 IDs. in the women ; and that this reduction should be subtracted from the amount of the above premium, and carried to the credit of the government.

Fifthly, That all such convicts as may arrive in the colony within the five years next en- suing the above period, other than those who may be required for the government works, should be, in like manner, assigned to deserving applicants, with the decreased premium of the year in which they may arrive.

Sixthly, That, at the expiration of the above period of five years, the whole of the govern- ment works, which are now for the most part carried on by convicts victualled and clothed from the king's stores, should be performed by contract.

Seventhly, That the utmost encouragement should be held out by the government to induce the emigration of wealthy individuals to the co- only; and that, with a view to effect this object, not only a passage should be furnished them free of expense in the various transports, which are

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY. 423

annually sent thither, but that also the quantity of land to be hereafter granted them should be increased, in proportion to their capital, from eight hundred acres (the present customary grant) up to five thousand.

Lastly, That the unappropriated lands most eligibly situated for the purposes of colonization should be surveyed, and marked out into sec- tions, each containing one square mile, or six hundred and forty acres ; — that each of these sections should be again subdivided into four parts ; — that thirty-six of them should, as in America, form a township; — that at stated periods the lands so surveyed should be setup to auction, and sold to the best bidder, provided the price offered for them should equal or exceed one dollar per acre ; if not, that they should be retained, until they could be sold for such price at some subsequent period ; — that the same cre- dit should be given for the purchase of these lands as is given in America, and the same dis- count on ready money ; — and that the amount of such sales should go to the Police Fund, and be employed in defraying the expenses of the colony.

The object of the foregoing propositions must be too evident from the preliminary remarks, which I have made, to need any extended illus-

424 ON THR MliANS OF REDUCING

tration ; — nevertheless, it may not be altogether inexpedient to say a few words, in further ex- planation of them, to such persons, as have be- stowed no portion of their attention on the cir- cumstances, and situation of this colony. The first, second, and third articles speak for them- selves. The remedy here proposed for the alarming evils, which I have so copiously tra- ced to the causes of their origin and continu- ance, will certainly occasion the government, for the next five years, a very great additional expense ; — but, after the most mature reflection on the present impoverished state of this colony, and the deeply rooted habits of idle- ness and vice, which a fifteen years' deprivation of the most important civil and political rights has occasioned, — I can devise none besides, that could be applied with any probability of effect- ing a radical and permanent cure. The arrange- ment recommended in the third article, — I mean, the substitution of a premium for the present mode of clothing and victualling the convicts, — would be highly favourable to the agricultural interests, both by limiting to the cultivators of the soil the supply of the food consumed by their servants, and by sparing them the trouble, and expense of sending their carts for it to the king's stores — an exemption, which would be attended with a considerable saving to such of t. pm, as inhabit districts remote from the towns.

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY. 425

— It would also be a source of economy to the government, by enabling them to make a great reduction in the commissariat department. The only objection, I can anticipate to this article, is, that it fixes an arbitrary rate of reduction in the premium to be allowed the settlers with the convicts ; and that this rate may prove greater than the advance, which the colony may make in the various avenues of internal industry. This may possibly be the case, al- though I consider the period, I have named, sufficiently protracted to allow the colonists due time to ascertain the nature and extent of their newly acquired privileges, and to profit by them. If, however, it were practicable, it would certainly be more eligible, that they themselves should become the arbiters of the abatement, which should annually take place in the pre- mium to be given with the convicts. But I da not well know how this desideratum could be effected, unless the grand juries, — during the circuits of the courts in the different districts, — could be empowered to inquire into, and deter- mine the increase, that may take place in the demand for labour, and regulate the price of it, — or, in other words, the premium to be given with it accordingly. To detract as far as possible from the increased expense, which would follow the adoption of the measures recommended in the first, second, and third articles, is the object

426 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

of the fourth. By making the abatement here proposed in the amount of the wages now directed to be paid by the settlers to their con- vict servants, and carrying- it to the credit of the government, an immediate saving of £5 per man, and £3 10s. per woman would be effected. And, if the calculation be accurate, that each male convict victualled, and clothed at the expense of the crown costs .£18, and each female .£12. ] Os. — it will be seen that above one fourth more might be supported by the govern- ment in the manner here recommended, and that likewise a fifth might be annually added to the number, without occasioning any increase whatever in the colonial expenditure. The weight, too, of this mode of retrenchment would not fall on the settler, and, by operating as a checkto agriculture, perhaps prolong the period, when the various departments of industry will be enabled to absorb the large mass of labour, which is annually regurgitated on the shores of this colony, — but on the convicts themselves, to whose reformation indeed, (the primary ob- ject of its foundation) it is essential that every incentive to the renewal of their ancient disor- derly, and profligate habits should be withdrawn. Even with this diminished scale of wages, the situation of the convicts would be far preferable to that of the labouring class in this country. £% 10s. to the men, and £1 10s. to the women,

THE EXPENCE8 OF THIS COLONY. 427

would then remain, independently of their food and clothing, — an allowance, which is surely quite sufficient for the " menus plaisirs" of a set of persons, who are supposed to be smarting under the lash of the law. Article fifth needs no explanation. Article sixth contemplates the saving, that might be effected in the public works of the government, by exchanging, — at the expiration of the period, when the bounty to be allowed to settlers with convicts shall cease, — the present mode of carrying them on by a body of men, victualled and clothed at the expense of the crown, for the more economical plan of contracting for them with the lowest bidder. I limit the commencement of this method of retrenchment to the above period, because — so long as a necessity exists forgiving a bounty with convicts, — there can be no doubt that it would be judicious in the government to profit as far as possible by the labour of per- sons, whom, even in the employment of indivi- duals, they would be in a great measure obliged to support. But the moment this necessity shall cease, it is equally indubitable that a conside- rable saving might be effected by carrying on the public works by contract. Where a body of fourteen or fifteen hundred convicts are em- ployed, even under the superintendence of the most active and upright man, there will always be a system of idleness and plunder, which his

428 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

assiduity will never be able entirely to baffle. Out of the immense number of minor agents, on whose intelligence and integrity he would be obliged to place a considerable degree of de- pendence, it is not readily to be believed, how- ever great might be his activity and discrimina- tion, that he would not be frequently deceived, and that those very men, on whom he most relied to suppress the dishonest inclinations of others, would not themselves occasionally pro- fit by the facilities to plunder and peculation, which the confidence, they enjoyed, might throw in their way. That such is, and always has been, the case in this colony, no person at all conversant with its real state can have any hesitation] in asserting ; — and, consequently, that the substitution of contracts for the present mode of conducting the public works, would become a very important source of eco- nomy at the period in question. Article the seventh is intended to encourage emigration to the colony, and to turn to its shores some portion of the immense numbers, who are annu- ally withdrawing from this country to the Uni- ted States of America. It appears almost inex- plicable, how the government can look on, and behold the thousands, who are propelled by various causes to quit their native land, without making some vigorous efforts, — if not to check thisjstrong tide of emigration, — at least to divert

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY. 419

it to our colonies, where in general it is so much required, and might become of such immense, and permanent utility to the empire. It is true, that of those, who thus abandon the land of their forefathers, many are actuated by political ani- mosities, and could not, by any encouragements be induced to settle in any of our colonies. But it is not less certain that there are others, and that the majority are of this class, whom mere distress and inability to provide for the grow- ing wants of their families, unalloyed with any political feelings whatever, most reluctantly drive to seek an asylum in America ; and who deeply lament the necessity of betaking them- selves to a country, where they and their chil- dren may one day bo compelled to draw their parricidal swords, against the mother, that gave them birth. It cannot, indeed, be denied, that the government, to prevemVthis horrible alternative, have, for a long time, held out considerable en- couragements to persons emigrating to Canada; but, — besides that the policy of thus peopling, at so considerable an expense, a country, which in the natural course of events must become an integral member of the American Union, is at least questionable, — it is well known that three- fourths of those, who are thus induced to settle in Canada, end by removing to the United States. The intense severity of the winters, and the unavoidable suspension of the pursuits of

430 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

agriculture, during six moths in the year, with the habits and language of the Canadians so repulsive and annoying to the generality of En- glishmen, sufficiently account for this circum- stance, without taking into computation the superior advantages of climate and soil, which the greater part of the United States is repre- sented as possessing. If the impolicy, therefore, of encouraging emigration to Canada be dispu- ted, still the inefficiency of the means employed, to attain the end contemplated by the govern- ment, ought to decide them to try some other expedient, to prevent so large a stock of British industry, and capital from thus adding to the resources of a nation, who is already the most formidable, as she is the most rancorous on the list of our enemies. No measure, perhaps, that could be adopted would tend so effectually to the accomplishment of this object, as holding out the great encouragement specified in this article to all such, as may settle in this colony. Pos- sessed as it is of a most salubrious and diversified climate, fertile soil, and unbounded extent of territory, — it evidently contains every requisite for the formation of a great and flourishing community ; and, whenever it shall be blessed with a free government, will offer much greater facilities for the development of industry, and the acquisition of wealth, than are to be found in the United States. Until the colony, however,

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY. 43)

shall possess this fundamental privilege, every attempt of the government to divert the cur- rent of emigration thither from America must prove, in a great measure, unavailing. A free constitution is the first want of those, who have known the blessings of one ; and no prospects of profit to an honourable and independent mind can compensate for its loss. There, can be little doubt, therefore, that — as soon as this indispensable preliminary to general emigra- tion shall be granted, — thousands of persons will embark for this colony, and continue to contribute to the wealth and power of their native country, who would otherwise become citizens of her most formidable and inveterate rival.

The adoption also of the measures here re- commended would have a sensible effect in diminishing the expenditure of this colony, and would amply compensate for any loss, which the government might sustain by afford- ing settlers a passage thither free of expense in the transports. I commenced this chapter by an attempt to prove that the great imme- diate hindrance to the employment of the large mass of unoccupied labour in the various new departments of internal industry, that will be created by the establishment of a free govern- ment, will arise from the want of capital;—

432 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

and the premium, I have recommended to be granted with convicts, for the first five years ensuing the proposed change in the colonial polity, is intended to impart an artificial vigour into the community, and to allow of that accu- mulation of wealth, which may afterwards suffice of itself to keep in solution a 11 the dis- posable labour of the colony. Every accession, therefore, of capital, that may take place, will contribute to swell the colonial stock to that extent, which is necessary for the complete occupation of the convicts, and thus become the means of accelerating the period, when the government will be entirely emancipated from the necessity of allowing the settlers a bounty with them.

The last article scarcely needs any explana- tion. Whenever that extensive emigration of capitalists, which, I confidently anticipate, would follow the establishment of a free Go- vernment, shall take place, — the sale of the crown lands would evidently become a source of considerable profit, and would go a long way towards defraying the expenses of the colony. It would, also, be the means of bringing num- bers of rich speculators thither, who would not think of emigrating, even for the increased indulgences, which I have recommended in the foregoing article. A man of fortune would

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY. 433

then be enabled to invest his money in land, to the exact extent, that he might desire ; whereas, at present, he must either be content with the portion assigned him, or else purchase by drib- blets the farms, that may become vacant in the vicinity of his estate, and after all, perhaps, be annoyed by having the possessions of others in the midst of his own. It is true that indivi- duals, who do not possess sufficient land for the support of their flocks and herds, are al- lowed to feed them on the unappropriated lands, and can, therefore, increase their stocks to any extent they may please. But the rapid progress of colonization places the crown lands every day at a greater distance from the original settle- ments, and occasions a constant necessity for receding; — so that, at last, that part of his stock, which the farmer cannot feed at home, is gradually removed to an inconvenient dis- tance, and can no longer have the benefit of his personal superintendence. To men of capital, therefore, — the class of whom it has been seen that the colony is most in need, — this sale of the crown-lands at half the price, which is de- manded for land in America, would prove a very powerful stimulus to emigration, and would, consequently, have a twofold operation in dimi- nishing the expenditure of this colony ; viz. by filling the coffers of the Police Fund, and by occasioning that accession of capital, which I F F

434 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

have before shewn to be essential, before the Government can be freed from the burden of supporting the convicts.

On the Advantages which the Colony offers for Emigration.

After the gloomy picture, which I have drawn, of the actual condition of the colony; — after having represented both its agricultural and commercial interests, as being already not only in a state of impair, but also of increas- ing dilapidation and ruin, — it may appear some- what paradoxical that I should attempt to wind up the account with an enumeration of the advantages, that it offers for emigra- tion. If due consideration, however, be given to the nature of the ingredients, of which the agricultural body is composed ; — if it be recol- lected that it consists principally *of persons, who have been, since their earliest years, habi- tuated to every sort of vice and debauchery ; — of persons bred up in cities, and unacquainted with the arts of husbandry, — who had, there- fore, to contend against the combined force of an inveterate propensity to the profligate indulgences of their ancient mode of life, and of utter ignorance of the laborious occupations, and thrifty arts of their new : — I say, if all these serious impediments to success be impartially

COLONY OFFliRS FOR EMHJRATIOX. 435

weighed, it will be seen that the anomaly is rather apparent than real. Nevertheless I do not mean to imply that this colony, or its dependencies, present at this moment any very flattering prospects to the mere agriculturist. That the skilful farmer would be enabled to obtain an independent and comfortable subsistence is, how- ever, indubitable ; and the larger his family, provided they were of sufficient age to afford him an effectual co-operation, the greater would be his chance of a successful establishment. Hundreds of this laborious class of people, who, in spite of unremitting toil and frugality, find themselves every day getting behind-hand with the world, would undoubtedly better their condition by emigrating to this colony, if there were only a probability that they would be enabled to go on, from day to day, as they are doing here. In this country they are at best but tenants of the soil they cultivate ; — whereas there they would be proprietors, and the mere advance, which would be taking place in the value of their farms, would, before many years, render them not only independent, but even wealthy. Of the truth of this assertion, we shall be fully convinced by referring to the price of land on the banks of the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers, — the only parts, which can be said to be even tolerably colonized. It has already been stated that, as far as the river F F 2

436 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

Hawkesbury is navigable, the unimproved land is worth five pounds per acre, and im- proved land double this amount. This land was at first of no value whatever ; because in the infancy of societies, so long as there is an unlimited scope of land of the first quality, which any one may occupy, as far as his occa- sions require, it is evident that there would be no purchasers; since it is absurd to imagine that any one would buy that, which he could ob- tain for nothing. It is only, (as Mr. Ricardo has demonstrated,) when land of an inferior quality is brought into cultivation, and when the differ- ence in the produce of the two sorts gives the occupier of the one a superiority over the oc- cupier of the other, and renders it as eligible for a person to cultivate land of the first description as a tenant, and to pay the proprietor the dif- ference of produce by way of rent, as to be himself the proprietor of land of the second description ; — or when the situation of the dif- ferent appropriated tracts of land does not admit of the conveyance of their produce to market at an equal cost; and thus again gives the owners of those farms, which are more conti- guous, an advantage over the owners of those, which are more remote : — I say it is only — when societies have made that progress, which begets one or other of these contingencies, or both, — that land is of any value whatever. In the

COLONY OFFERS FOR EMIGRATION. 437

course, therefore, of thirty -one years, the tract of land in question, — taking the unimproved part as our criterion, since the improvements made in that portion of it, which is in a state of cultivation, may be considered tantamount to the difference in value between the one and the other, — has evidently risen to this enormous price, from having been of no worth whatever : or, in other words, each acre of land has increas- ed in value, during the interval that has elapsed, since the foundation of the colony, at the rate of 3s. 2fo?. per annum ; and that too under the most impolitic, and oppressive system, to which any colony, perhaps, was ever subjected. How much greater then, will be the future rise in the value of landed property, if, — as there is now every reason to hope from the attention, which the government are at this moment paying to the state of this colony, — the whole of the dis- abilities, under which its inhabitants have been so long groaning, should at length be repealed ? Without taking at all into the estimate the immediate melioration, which a radical change in the polity of this colony would occasion in the condition of the agricultural body ; — with- out depending on the probability that it will soon be in the power of the laborious, and fru- gal settler to rise rapidly to wealth and inde- pendence ; — it must be evident that the mere increase, which is yearly taking place in the value

ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

of landed property, affords of itself the strong- est inducement to emigration;— since, if it does not hold out to the industrious colonist the pros- pect of acquiring* immediate wealth, it relieves him from all apprehensions for his family, should a premature destiny overtake himself. He at least knows that every succeeding year will be augmenting in a rapid manner the value of his farm, and that the same spot, which adminis- ters to his and their present wants, cannot fail to suffice for their future. This is of itself a most consolatory prospect ; — it at all events prevents the present good from being embittered with any dread of future evil; — it permits the indus- trious man the tranquil enjoyment of the fruits of his labours, and rescues him from the ne- cessity of hoarding up against the approach of gathering calamity — against the stormy sea- son of impending poverty.

The amelioration, that would take place in the condition of the mere labourer, who should emigrate to this colony, without funds adequate to the formation of an agricultural establish- ment, would not be so considerable. Still there can be no doubt that the honest and industrious man would always be able to provide for him- self, and his family, not only the mere necessa- ries of life, — a sufficiency of food and clothing ; -r-but many comforts besides, which with his

COLONY OFFERS FOR EMIGRATION. 439

utmost endeavours he cannot obtain in this country, without having recourse to parochial relief. He would, therefore, at all events emancipate himself from his humiliating, — this demoralizing necessity ; for, — although there is confessedly a greater portion of labour in the colony, than can at present be maintained in ac- tivity, -any person, who might emigrate thither voluntarily, would easily find employment, when those, who are, or have been, under the operation of the law, would seek for it in vain. A good character is a jewel of greater value there, than in this country, because it is more difficult to be met with ; — and consequently all the advan- tages, which it procures its possessor in the one place, it will insure him, at least, in a two-fold measure in the other.

The colony offers very little encouragement to the manufacturer. The manufacturing inte- rests are not at present in the most prosperous situ- ation ; and, — if the government should, as seems now extremely probable, at length adopt those measures, which are called for by every consi- deration of justice and expediency,— a few years will annihilate them entirely. To this class, therefore, with reference both to the proprietor and workman, a removal to this colony would undoubtedly be prejudicial.

440 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

For the artisan and mechanic, who are skilled in works of utility, rather than of luxury, there is not, as it has been already remarked, any part of the world, perhaps, which affords an equal chance of success. To any, therefore, who have the means of transporting themselves and fami- lies to this colony, the removal would be in the highest degree advantageous. They could not fail to find immediate e mployment, and to receive a more liberal return for their labour, than they would be able to procure elsewhere. The black- smith, carpenter, cooper, stone-mason, brick- layer, brick-maker, wheel and plough-wright, harness-maker, tanner, shoe-maker, taylor, cabinet-maker, ship-wright, sawyer, &c. &c. would very soon become independent, if they possessed sufficient prudence to save the money, which they would earn. For the master-artisan and mechanic, the prospect, of course, is still more cheering ; since the labour, they would be enabled to command, would be proportioned to the extent of their capital.

The advantages, however, that the colony offers to this class of emigrants, great as they undoubtedly are, when considered in an isolated point of view, are absolutely of no weight, when placed in the balance of comparison with those, which it presents to the capitalist, who has

COLONY OFFERS FOR EMIGRATION. 441

the means to embark largely in the breeding of fine woolled sheep. It may be safely asserted, that of all the various openings, which the world at this moment affords for the profitable invest- ment of money, there is not one equally invit- ing, as this single channel of enterprise offered by this colony. The proof of this assertion I shall rest on two calculations so plain and intelli- gible, as to be within the scope of the compre- hension of all. Before I proceed, however, it is necessary to settle a few points, as the data, on which these calculations are to be founded ; viz. the value of the wool, the weight of the fleeces, and the number of sheep to be kept in a flock.

And first with regard to the value of the wool grown in this colony : — the last importations of the best quality have not yet been disposed of, in consequence of the very depressed state of the market, which, from the present general embarrassment of all classes, and the consequent stagnation of commerce, is from 30 to 50 per cent, below its ordinary level. The gentleman, however,' who has the disposal of this wool, entertains no doubt of being enabled to obtain shortly 4s. per Ib. in the fleece for the whole of it ; as he has already refused 5s. Gd. for some few of the best samples. But if he should be disappointed in his expectation, I do not consider, that the present state of the market

442 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

affords any fair criterion, by which to judge of the probable prices, that wool grown in this colony is likely hereafter to average. In this opinion, lam confirmed not more by a conviction, that the very best description of wool yet pro- duced there is far from having attained the perfection, of which it is capable, and which a few more crosses with the pure Spanish breed will undoubtedly effect in it, — than by a know- ledge of the superior prices, at which the wool from the same gentleman's flocks has in for- mer years been sold.

It has been stated in evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons, who are now inquiring into the state of this colony, " that for the greater portion of this wool the " following regularly increasing prices were ob- " tained :

" In 1816 2s. 6d. per Ib.

" In 1819 3«. 6d. to 4*. per Ib.

" In Do. second importation, 4*. Id. per Ib.

" In 1819, 5*. per Ib."

" It is to be observed too that the three last " sales were for ready money; but, had a credit of " ten months been allowed, as is usual on foreign " wools, the price of the best would have been " nearly 6s. per Ib. The whole was purchased " by manufacturers in Yorkshire and the west of

COLONY OFFERS FOR EMIGRATION. 443

" England ; and it has been ascertained that " some of the fleeces, which were washed and " sorted by the buyer, have been valued as high " as 9s. 6d. per Ib."

After this statement, which has been published in the proceedings of the Committee of the House of Commons, it will not, I think, be doubted, that to take the future average price of the best description of wool grown in this colony at 4s. per Ib. is to form an estimate, which in all proba- bility will fall very far short of the truth. Let this price, however, be one of our data, and let us allow two pounds and a half, which is also an estimate equally moderate, as the average weight of each fleece. The weight of a yearling's fleece may be taken at one pound, and the value of the wool at 2s. 9d. per Ib. The number of ewes generally kept in a flock by the best breeders are about 330 ; and let us suppose that the emigrant has the means of purchasing a flock of this size of the most improved breed. This, with a sufficient number of tups, may be had for £1000.

These are the data, on which I intend to found my first calculation ; but, — as there are not probably more than 10,000 sheep in the whole colony, which produce fleeces of the above quality; and as, from the number of per- sons, who either have emigrated, or are on the

444 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

point of emigrating thither, the whole of them will not possibly either possess the means, or meet with an opportunity, on their arrival, of pur- chasing a flock of this description, — it may per- haps be desirable that this work should also con- tain a calculation of the profits to be derived from the ordinary race of sheep, or at least from that race, which has yet been but partially crossed with the Spanish breed. Before I proceed, there- fore, with my first calculation, it will be the better way to ascertain the data, on which to found my second ; and although it must be evident, from the reasons already assigned, that the sales of wool made at the commencement of the present year are by no means a fair standard, fcy which to determine the value of this sort of wool, I am willing,— in order that the future emigrant may have the expectations, with which he may go out to the colony, more than realiz- ed,— to take for one of my datathe price, which this sort of wool averaged in the present de- pressed state of the market. 140 bales of this wool were sold on the 14th of January last by public auction at Garraway's Coffee House, at prices vary ing from 3s. Id. to Is. Gd. per lb; but the whole quantity averaged only 2s. 1 d. per lb. There are probably about 30,000 sheep in the colony, that produce wool of this quality ; the fleeces of these sheep may be averaged at 2? Ibs. and the yearlings' fleeces at 1 lb., for which Is. 6d. per

COLONY OFFERS FOR EMIGRATION. 445

lb. may be safely allowed. A flock of 330 two year-old ewes of this description may be bought at the rate of 35s. per head, or for ,£577 10s. and with the requisite number of Spanish tups for £600. These points being determined I will now proceed with my calculations.

446

•^ O CO CO O	y cT w	O CO O *0
.; o i- r» o	l> CO "*	•0 ,,0 2
,J O U3 O O •— ' OJ	CT> —"00 •t «O	oo o" gj
s ,	*'Sfi - ,
1 • 1 w '
«2	S ^ jj ^3 U ^ CU OQ
CU	oX *, CO
w ^, S ,	^ * Oi S	1 (3
H • • ' g a	iii'i'	0)
«» s	.s°^ "S "c	S -sj< 2
fa i i . ^	2J § 4) *> 'S '	a, §o
O « g	*" "^ s »	« - !" .S
B 11 g , , ,-sg 8 o	J '1 rf »9 ^ *P 1 *Jo £ ^-S^ 1 «.s-g |« a ^ fi £Q a-
04 * °°° '	D	3
g	O	£
l-< . O O 00 C fcs, «H «C TJ<	§ t)
W ' -
a s
H	i
Jr i i i i ' '	X
O	i
H ^
S •*•<=> o <	3 0 O 0 0
1 -•= »	0 0 00 0
O5 •*	i S 38 2 CN
tf.^-^'^d)^^ w	• ^
^ S * > c ^ ^f rt o	4) ^
r-yl *^ eo ^ rt ^^ ' . • * o " s l^i^ '* 1	, **
g'eS-^S^^a CO Q<	Q^ eft
1 1 If II ,1'^' • -J§	**^ •« <" ^1 S3 ^3 O
^ S rrH fe ••	^ CU t-i -*->
^^j'S'oj • ' S ' *^ CJ CJ	C rt UP VH«
Suca^O'-*0 c 5<>8	J3 a> . ^
Mil; ! I fl!	ai pfl O-** o ai . 'o Jj<«
^•s^'S^l 2 •'s^-'sl S	o a &> i— • O »n **
^ i £ c^"*^ 0:H ^ a t°'«	t5"5 w
^^^^S^'^rJP3a>3cnS^PO	3 o 3 > S

•— • —

>• > WOQ

COLONY OFFERS FOR EMIGRATION.

447

*e o to

C< « W

B

CO

S

S O 02

B H

B

C "* °

9 --o

PH r-i

..-I o

1
g
3
O . ._ji_«
-HO	1— 1 r-T I-H	d50	05
c» o	2 2	oo r— 1	2
05 t^ CO 10	2g	<N CO	3
2 ""	oo	— 2J	v<

'S S i =2

8 i

£	.2 S
03 Srff 43 "8	S^ ^> •j **» ** »->
:Ǥ	II J s
«s n	§ S's-g
03 « c3 <U O) ,Q	sl^l '«*•'"§
^ •*-•	. rt V m
*- .2 QJ P. S	§1S^ 0 5t« ^
o	K «1 «
» 'i o 2	S.'S^S
— ' 0 *? 'C	«3 01 -"S * *• ^^ 0
g S ^ d) 0) 'C O	Hi!

448

ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

22 c

CO <M

•* TO o o>

CS i/a

• &

»-o oo

o o

00

g <N 05

C

o o

•" ai

O o

" g^S>J y <u O £7 *->

i

1 °

I

I

E

3

"o

ooHo

fl

orati head

D

"

&*->•£

Z2-, ~j • **

V3 £fl

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY.

449

o o

1-H <N

W^ VA^

S°V

1

		*0-O o a
		-S «
		1-8
"o i	1 (3	.So .§»« °§	4
•S QJ	8, X	a> 6<S
s	w	** 8
1	1	0 0, V Lrf	§
^-» a>	w	rt •— «	•^
fe	H	>o

G G

450

ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

*O O O

4 ^ r^

t- CO

I

H

K

•!1

c* en

1|>:2

g

i

o

O

1

00 ic 00 rt

3 -c

g

§

«*< 0

CO «>

	o. X
	V
	o
	H	^" "W	«t«	,.w	1-Jf)
r— <	00	CO O	CM <0	00 CO	OJ J-H
CO	CO	t» 00	CT> CO	OJiO	t^ 00
o 00 CO	(N	oo «o 2"°	^ O CO O	CO >0 CO i-<	0 0 (M oo r-«

g

a

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY.

451

. CO O

a

o

O> O>

00 00 00

<= a

H)«

1— I

CN CO

CO **

<N 00

O CO

o •* »o o

Oi

CO 1-H

CO >0

oration head

Det

•<* CO

oo «o

COCO «3<N

5 per cent, for casual Net value of stock thi Deduct expenses

t- 1— I

r-. CO

t> (N

*J	"o
C3	o
1 —	^
0	»«
'O a	a IS
9	•*
a3 (U *^	, o US
^ts V?	O o
a«	cS •
-3 -s	P-.
0 <« ? o	'1
— «
O 3	^^
«!!	« o
1| > & *, n3 O) 4>	S & S S3 >>^
KG	O

G G

452 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THK

It would be useless to prosecute these calcu- lations, since any person who may be anxious to ascertain their further results, may easily arrive at them himself. On examining the first of them it will be evident, that, — with the most liberal allowances for all manner of ex- penses, casualties and deteriorations, — capital invested in this channel will yield the first year, from the profits of wool alone, an interest of about £Q per cent, besides experiencing itself an increase of upwards of ,£26 per cent. — that the second year it will yield an interest of rather more than £'12 per cent, besides experiencing itself a farther in- crease of nearly £46 per cent. — and that the third year it will yield an interest of rather more than ,£18 per cent., besides experiencing itself an additional increase of about £581 per cent. ; — in other words, money sunk in breeding the finer woolled sheep in this colony, will, after all expenses and deductions are satisfied, — not only pay an interest of about £36 per cent, in the course of three years, but undergo itself an augmentation of about £130? per cent. Here then is a mode of investing money, by which the proprietor might insure himself an interest, the ratio of which would increase in an astonish- ing progression, — while at the same time the capital itself would experience an advance •till more rapid and surprising. The profits.

COLONY OFFERS FOR IMMIGRATION. 453

however, to be derived from breeding the coar- ser woolled sheep in this colony, it will be seen, are not nearly so inviting ; but they are still sufficiently considerable to be worthy, of the most serious attention of all those, who are desirous of emigrating. It will be perceived, that capital invested in this channel, — after making the same liberal allowances and deduc- tions, as are made in the former calculation, will yield a profit the first year of nearly £'20 per cent. ; — that the second year it will yield a pro- fit of about £57 per cent. ; — and that the third year it will yield a profit of nearly £76 per cent. But, — although money invested in this manner will thus yield in the course of three years a pro- fit of about £172 per cent., — it will be observed that the wool alone will not suffice to pay the expenses attending the flocks, and that it will be necessary, in order to make up the excess of the disbursements over the annual proceeds of the wool to expend £39 9s. Gd. the first year ; — £51 2s. the second year, — and £63 18s. 7\d. the third year, in addition to the capital to be expended in the purchase of the original flock. Should the means, however, of the emigrant not allow of this additional expenditure, he would be able, the first year, to sell his wether lambs to the butcher for £165, which would make him areturn, afterihe payment of all expenses, of £125. 10s. 6d., or of about £23 per cent.ori the amount of his whole

454 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

invested capital. By pursuing this plan every year, he would always insure himself a very con- siderable interest for his money; but, if his funds were sufficient, it would be the better way not to sell his wethers before the end of the third year ; since at the expiration of this period they would be full grown, and worth more by about three fourths, than at the end of the first year. He would at the same time be enabled to dispose of his original flock ; for it is not advisable to permit the breeding ewes to have more, than three lambs each. By the time they have reared this number, they will be nearly five years old ; and at this age their teeth become bad, they are no longer able to chew their food properly, and are consequently in- capable of affording sufficient milk for the due nourishment of their lambs, — although their teeth are yet sufficiently good to allow of their being fattened. It will, therefore, be perceived, that the emigrant, by waiting till the end of the third year, and by making a draft of his five year old ewes, would be enabled to sell to the butcher nearly one half more sheep than he originally purchased ; — that he would have for sale regularly afterwards a three year old flock of wethers, — and that he would besides, after the fifth year, be able to make annually a regular draft of five year old ewes from his breeding flock. It will scarcely have escaped notice, that in the pre-

COLONY OFFERS FOR EMIGRATION. 455

ceding calculations no allowance whatever has been made for any improvement in the fleeces of the flocks. This, it must be evident, is a most material omission, particularly in the coarser woolled breed; since it may be safely calculated, that, at each cross with the pure Spanish breed, the inferior wools increase in value at the rate of £20 per cent. But notwithstanding this most important omission, — notwithstanding the present depressed state of the markets of this country, from which the prices in the preceding calculations have been taken — and not withstand- ing the very ample allowances, which have been made for all possible expenses and contingencies, — it is confidently hoped that these calculations are sufficiently encouraging to convince the most incredulous, that any person, who has the means of embarking in either of these spe- culations could not fail, with common atten- tion, to realize a large fortune in a few years. His chance of so doing would be still greater, if he should happen to be acquainted with the management of sheep. This is, however, by no means an indispensable qualification ; — for such is the fineness of the climate, in the settlements both in New Holland and Van Diemen's Land, that all those precautions, which are necessary to be observed in this country, in order to shelter them from the inclemency of the seasons, are there quite superfluous : — sheds, in-

456 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

deed, are not only useless but injurious; — the flocks never do so well as when they are con- tinually exposed to the weather. It is only necessary that the folds should be shifted every other day, or, if the sheep be kept by night in yards, to take care that these are daily swept out.

The extent to which capital might be thus invested is boundless ; since, if the breeder did not possess as much land, as would feed the number of sheep, that he might wish to keep, he would only have to send his flocks beyond the limits of colonization, and retire with them as the tide of population approached. His hurdles, and the rude huts, or tents of his shepherds, might always be removed with very little diffi- culty and expense ; — and if his and his neigh- bours' flocks should happen to come into con- tact, such is the immensity of the wilderness, which would lie before him, that he might ex- claim in the language of Abram to Lot : " Let " there be no strife I pray thee between me and " thee, and between my herdsmen and thy " herdsmen ; for we be brethren. Is not the " whole land before us? Separate thyself, I pray " thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left " hand, then I will go to the right ; or if thou " depart to the right hand, then I will go to the " left.'' Such, — should any of these disputes occur, — might always be their amicable termina-

COLONY OFFERS FOR EMIGRATION. 457

tion. There is, and will be for ages to come, whatever may be the extent of emigration, more land than can possibly be required. The speculation, therefore, of growing wool can meet with no checks from the want of pastur- age in the colony, and it is equally improbable that it can be impeded by the want of a mar- ket in this country. It is well known that the Saxon wool cannot be sold under the present prices without loss to the growers. The seve- rity of the climate of Saxony renders it indis- pensable for the sheep-holders to take a variety of precautions, which are not onlyjuseless in this colony, — but would even prove highly detri- mental to the constitution of this valuable ani- mal. In the former country, the flocks are kept almost invariably in sheds of a very costly con- struction, both by day and night, and are fed principally upon hay ; — in the latter, they are always better when kept in the open air, and fed on the spontaneous herbage of the forest. The mildness of the seasons, therefore, spares the colonists two copious sources of expense, and will without doubt, in the end, enable them to undersell and ruin the Saxon wool growers ; since the only point of superiority these latter can pretend to is their greater contiguity to the market, and this, in consequence of the extreme value of the commodity, is of too trifling im- port to demand consideration. The freight of

458 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

wool from the colony, has already been reduc- ed to three pence per pound, which it would appear indeed is considerably less* than is paid for the transport of wool from Saxony ; and all the other expenses, with the exception of insur- ance, as brokerage, store room, &c. are precisely the same. Upon these grounds, therefore, I am contented to rest the support of my assertion, that the world does not at present contain so advantageous, and I might also add, so ex- tensive an opening for the investment of capital, as the one in question.

* It has been stated in evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons, by a gentleman well conversant with the subject, " that the freight and carriage of Spanish wool from Seville is estimated at about 3s. lOd. for every twenty-five pound.*, which amounts to about 2d. per Ib : Saxon wool, includ- ing the land and water carriage to Hamburgh, and freight from Hamburgh to this country, is estimated at the least from 5d. to 6d. per Ib. and in addition to that. — a duty of £3 per cent, has been recently charged upon it for permission to pass through the Prus- sian States." Since the first edition of this work was published a duty also of 6d. per Ib. has been imposed by the legislature on all foreign wools, — from which wools imported from this and our other colonies are exempt until the 5th of January, 1823. This exemption will operate as a bounty on the growth of wool in this colony, and will be particularly favourable to such of the sheep-holders, as have not yet made much improvement in the fleeces of their flocks. Had this duty been imposed en wool from New South Wales, it would have prevented the exporta- tion of the coarser wools altogether, and would have consequently been a death-blow to this, — the staple export of the colony.

COLONY OFFERS FOR EMIGRATION. 459

With reference to the commercial prospects presented by this colony, — they are certainly much more limited, but still of very consider- able scope. The extraordinary fluctuations, which are incessantly taking place in the prices of all sorts of merchandize, are evidently ca- pable of being turned to great account by a cool and skilful calculator. Any person of this character, possessed of sufficient capital to enable him to buy goods, when the market should happen to be in a state of depression, and to keep them in his store till the glut should pass by, could not fail to realize a rapid fortune. The only event, that could prevent his success, would be an imprudent avidity. If he should be once tempted to go out of his depth, so that he would be compelled to sell, whether at gain or loss, — in order to make good his payments, — he would most probably sink never more to rise. But, if he would never speculate beyond the compass of his actual means, he might easily clear fifty per cent, per annum on the amount of his trading capital.

Were I asked to particularize any avenue of industry not strictly included in any of the foregoing general classes, in which persons inclined to emigrate to this colony might embark with a fair chance of success, — I should say that any one, who had the means of taking

460 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

out a steam-engine of six or eight-horse-power, with the requisite machinery for sawing boards, would make it answer his purposes very well ; — that a timber merchant also, possessing a capi- tal of three or four thousand pounds, might employ his funds very advantageously by esta- blishing a timber yard ; — and that a skilful brewer, who could command five thousand pounds and upwards, would succeed either at Sydney, or Hobart Town. It would be neces- sary, however, that he should understand the process of making malt, since there are no regular maltsters yet in the colony, and that he should also grow his own hops.* Until he had, therefore, established a hop plantation sufficient for his concern, it would be requisite that he should make arrangements to be sup- plied with hops from this country. There are already several breweries in New South Wales, but the beer, which is made in them, is so bad that many thousand pounds worth of porter and ale imported from this country are annually consumed in these settlements. This is, in some

* The hop thrives very well at Port Jackson : there are several flourishing plantations owned by the brewers. This plant has not, I believe, yet been introduced into the southern settlements; but, as they bear a much greater affinity to this country in point of climate than Port Jackson, no doubt can be entertained that it mipht be cultivated there with at loast an '•<-|iial probability nf success.

COLONY OFFERS FOR EMIGRATION. 461

measure, occasioned by the inferiority of the barley grown at Port Jackson; but more, I am inclined to believe, by the want of skill in the brewers. If the indifferent quality of the beer, however, be attributable to the badness of the barley, this impediment to success would be removed, by emigrating to Van Die- men's Land ; for the barley raised in both the settlements in this island is equal to the best produced in this country. I should also say, that the skilful dairyman, who could take out with him a capital of from one to two thousand pounds, would do well in any of these settle- ments, but more particularly in New South Wales. Butter, as it has already been remarked, is still as high as 2s. 6d. per pound, notwith- standing the immense increase, which has taken place in the black cattle. The extreme dearness of this article arises principally from the na- tural grasses not being sufficiently nutritive to keep milch cattle in good heart, and from the colonists not having yet got into the proper method of providing artificial food. Any one, therefore, who would introduce the dairy system practised in this country, could hardly fail to find his account in it.

These various advantages, which this colony and its dependencies offer for emigration, have many points of superiority over any, to which

462 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

the United States of America can lay claim ; — if we even admit the truth of all that the most enthusiastic admirers of that country have writ- ten, respecting its flourishing condition. Mr. Birbeck*, whose "Letters" if not " Notes," con- tain strong marks of an exaggerated anticipa- tion of their resources and capabilities, has not, — though evidently under the influence of feelings quite incompatible with a correct and disinterested judgment, — ventured to rate his imaginary maximum of the profits to be de- rived from farming in the Illinois, (which appears to be the principal magnet of attraction possessed by the United States,) so high as I have proved by actual calculations, to which I defy any one to attach the character of hyperbo- lical, that the investment of capital in the growth of fine wool in this colony will in- fallibly produce. This too, although certainly the most inviting and extensive channel of en- terprize, which it contains, is not its only ground of preference : — it has many induce- ments besides for emigration, of which the United States are wholly destitute. Among these the following are perhaps the most consi- derable.

* See Mr. Cobbett's Letter to Mr. Birbeck, on his "Letters *' from the Illinois."

COLONY OFFERS FOR EMIGRATION. 463

First, Any person of respectability, upon emigrating to this colony, is given as much land as would cost him four hundred pounds in the United States.

Secondly, He is allowed as many servants as he may require : and the wages, which he is bound to pay them, are not one-third the amount of the price of labour in America.

tit iiiii!) •: : fft^ffo ?

Thirdly, He, his family, and servants, are victualled at the expense of the Government for six months.

*} fJtt'-O'i ' ^

These are three considerations of great im- portance to the emigrant, and quite peculiar to this colony : added to which, the value of the produce of this gratuitous land and labour is three times as great as in the Illinois, as will be seen by a comparison of the prices of pro- duce there, as given by Messrs. Birbeck and Fearon, and the prices of similar produce, as stated in the first part of this work. It is true, that there is not the same unlimited market as in America ; but it must be evident, that, if the price of labour were even equal, the colonist, who could dispose of one -third of his crops, would be in a better condition, than if he were established in the Illinois, and could find vent for the whole. The market, however, has

464 ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH THE

never been circumscribed to this degree even in periods of the greatest abundance ; and the immense arrivals of convicts, that have been daily taking place for the last three years, have increased the consumptive powers of the colony so considerably, that there has at most been but a very trifling surplus in the barns of the far- mers at the close of the year. On the other hand, all articles of foreign growth and manu- facture are in general much cheaper than in the Illinois, and the other remote parts of the American Union, provided the purchaser has ready money, and is not under the necessity of having recourse to secondary agents for goods on long credit.

Here, then, are many powerful reasons, why persons bent on emigration should prefer this colony to America. The only point is., whether the latter can throw any weightier arguments into the opposite scale. What may be urged on the other side of the question, may, I ap- prehend, be comprised under* these two heads : first,— the greater contiguity of the United States to this country, and the consequent ease and cheapness with which emigration thither may be effected; — and, secondly, the superi- ority of their Government.

The first of these points merits very little

THE EXPENSES OP THIS COLONT. 465

consideration, except in the instance of those wlio have not the means of choosing between the two countries.* If a person only possess the power of removing to that, which is the more

* The following extracts from the letters of a Dumfries- shire farmer, who went out to New South Wales, with a capi- tal of £2,000, about four years since, to a friend of his in this country, who was many years an inhabitant of Sydney, but left it shortly after this gentleman's arrival there, give so flat- tering an account of his situation, and of the advantages, which this colony offers to the industrious emigrant, that I cannot avoid giving them insertion. They speak more forcibly in favour of it, indeed, than whole volumes of general asser- tion.

"- New South Wales, 1st Sept. 1818. " Every thing with me in this country goes on well, and

Mrs. and myself are more than content with the place,

and our situation in it. My flocks do now, I think, rival the best in the colony in shape and fineness of wool. I hope to be able to send you of very good at least a ton and a half. We have the prospect of a great deal of grass this season. My lambs have done remarkably well on rape, July and August,'1 (the two severest of the winter months) " and cows for three months on turnips, which enabled us to make plenty of butter when it was scarce. Our cheese turns out remarkably fine, not inferior to Cheshire. We shall probably make near a ton annually, and I think it will meet with a market in India by and by. I shall feed next year sixty hogs. Our hams are ex- cellent. I have put in this year, with one pair of horses, fifty acres of wheat. It looks capital, and is estimated at twenty- five bushels per acre. It is all folded, and put into the ground in a different manner to what my neighbours do, and at half the expense. They are astonished at the appearance of il. I

H H

466 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING

contiguous, eligibility is out of the question : — he is no longer a free agent. But the difference in the cost of emigrating is far from being so considerable as might be imagined on a mere view of their comparative distances from this country. I find that a gentleman of

have likewise had twenty acres of maize, and shall have more this season. I mean to sow forty acres of rape and turnips for the sheep, to feed off old ewes, &c. &c. I find and know the benefit of this. I have got a ten-acre field of fine English grasses on my own land. Our flocks are now increased to upwards of 2100, including 630 lambs of this season. I have been very fortunate, you see, and have lost scarcely any, and they have no scab or other disease, but are all in good condi- tion. They only want attention, to do well in this fine cli- mate. I mean to sell or feed 300 draft ewes, as I think it will be best not to have more than two breeding flocks, and, besides, I cannot afford to let them increase, but hope soon to get into the plan of selling off each year 300 three-year old wethers, and 300 draft ewes. My cattle are doing well. We shall make about £400 a year by our dairy. I count now 100 head of my own cattle. I think my situation will soon be very inde- pendent. I shall be very sparing, cautious, and industrious, until I get this brought about. My boys are now becoming very useful, and I thank God my own health is very fair. We are in great comfort here, I can assure you, and can furnish our table well each day from our own produce. We have plenty of butter, cheese, milk, mutton, bacon, pork, poultry, &c. &c. and with fruit and vegetables of all descriptions we abound. With such fare, in this fine climate, our children, I assure you, grow like mushrooms, and are content and happy, all inheriting their father's dislike of Sydney, and love of the country."

THE EXPENSES OF THIS COLONY 476.

great experience and respectability in the com- mercial world, has presented a calculation to the Committee of the House of Commons, who are now occupied with an inquiry into the state of this colony, from which it appears that a family, consisting of a man, his wife and two children, with five tons for their accommo- dation and for the reception of their baggage,

i. o o o y

might emigrate to the colony for one hundred pounds, inclusive of every contingent expense, provided a sufficient number of families could be collected to freight a ship.* The same gen- tleman calculates that a single man might be taken out thither for thirty pounds. The dif-

From the same to the same, dated 20th July, 1819.

" I have just finished sending off to Sydney, for shipment, sixteen bales of fine wool, the produce of our last shearing. I am happy to say, the sheep continue doing as well as I could possibly wish, and the wool advancing equally in fineness. I can now commence selling after this year's shearing to advan- tage, having 300 three-year old wethers, 300 two-year old, and 300 wether lambs ; so. that I shall have 300 fat wethers regularly for the market. We are now busy making cheese and butter, which readily sell, cheese at 2s. wholesale, and butter, from 2s. to 2s. 6d. per Ib. I have now upwards of 100 head of fine cattle. I have this year put in 120 acres

of wheat, and have my fine land at , all cleared to the

extent of 120 acres. Indeed, all things continue with me to go on well."

* The following is his estimate of the expense of fifty families-

H H'2

468 O.V THE MEANS OF REDUCING

ference, therefore, in the mere cost of emigra- ting to the two places is so trifling, that the superior locality of the one cannot be admitted as any sort of set off against the superior advan- tages of the other. With respect, however, to the last plea, that has been adduced in favour of emigration to the United States, — the supe- riority which they possess in a free govern- ment,— it must be admitted, that this is a deci- sive ground of preference, and a blessing to which the greatest pecuniary advantages can- not be considered a sufficient counterpoise. And if it be imagined that the present arbitrary system of government is not drawing to a con- clusion ; — if it be apprehended that it has not yet reached its climax of oppression and iniquity,

proceeding to this colony, in a vessel of 400 tons, chartered solely for the purpose :

Freight of vessel at £6 1 Os. per ton 2600 0 0

Extra expense of preparing births, &c. &c. 200 0 0

Victualling 50 families, consisting on an average

of husband, wife, and two children, at £44 2200 0 0

£5000 0 0

This, supposing a protracted royage of 6 months, and five tons being allowed for the reception and baggage of each family, exclusive of provi- sions, water and fuel, is at the rate of £100 per family of four persons.

Tilt EXPENSES 0V THIS COLONY. 469

and that it will be enforced, until all who are within the sphere of its influence are reduced to a state of moral degradation and infamy, and the colony becomes one vast stye of de- pravity and abomination ; — the emigrant will do well to discard from his mind every mercenary consideration, and to turn away with disgust from all prospects of gain ; so long as they are only to be realized by entering into so conta- gious and demoralizing an association. But if he believe that the hour is at hand, when the present system is to be abolished; — when oppres- sion is to be hurled from the car in which it has driven triumphantly over prostrate justice, virtue, and religion ; — and when the dominion of right and morality is to be asserted and es- tablished ; — then I have no hesitation in recom- mending him to give a preference to this co- lony. In the agonies of approaching dissolu- tion, the efforts of tyranny will be feeble and impotent. Moral corruption, though the in- evitable result of a voluntary submission to its will, is not the consequence of an impa- tient and indignant sufferance of its rule for a season ; and the chance of personal injury would be still more precarious and uncertain. Under the most arbitrary governments the ven- geance of the despot has seldom been known to extend beyond the circle of his court ; — his victims have been among the ambitious candi-

470 ON THE MEANS OF REDUCING, &C.

dates for power and distinction ; — the retired pursuits of unobtrusive industry are a sanctuary, which has remained inviolate in all ages.

" The lifted axe, the agonizing wheel, Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel, To men remote from pow'r but rarely known, Leave reason, faith, and conscience all our own/'

WORD OF ADVICE

TO

EMIGRANTS.

THE numerous letters that have been addressed to me, since the publication of the first edition of this work, by persons desirous of emigrating to New South Wales, or Van Diemen?s Land, have determined me, in this second edition, to offer to future emigrants in general a little ad- vice, which, I trust, will render any similar applications to me in future unnecessary. In making this public intimation, however, I do not wish it to be imagined that I have any in- tention to discourage any interrogatories, which persons disposed to emigrate to these colonies may be desirous of submitting to me. My chief motives for pursuing this course are, because the information, which I am now about to commu- nicate, greatly exceeds the ordinary limits of a letter ; and because, independently of this con- sideration, which is of itself a powerful obsta-

472 A WORD OF ADVICE

cle and objection to an extensive literary cor- respondence, my professional avocations have not, in many instances, allowed me to answer the various questions that have been put to me, even in the brief manner in which I have an- swered them, so expeditiously as I myself could have wished, and as the occasions of my corre- spondents might perhaps have required. It has, therefore, occurred to me, that it would not only prove more satisfactory to future emi- grants, but that it would save both them and myself a great deal of unnecessary trouble, if I were to append to this work such information, as it may be in my power to afford, and as I conceive will facilitate their views in emigrat- ing to these colonies ; and as the letters I have received were obviously sent me for the pur- pose of eliciting information, which the former edition did not contain, and which it is not unreasonable to conclude will prove equally acceptable to those who may hereafter embark in a similar destination, I consider that I can- not do better than confine the observations and advice, I have to offer, to those points, to which the past inquiries that have been addressed to me have been principally directed ; and these may be resolved into the following heads : —

1st. The manner of obtaining from the Go- vernment grants of land in these colonies. 2dly. The various articles which emigrant*

TO EMIGRANTS. 473

should take out with them. 3dly. The man- ner of procuring a passage, and the nature of the provisions, comforts, &c. necessary for the voyage. 4thly. The best method of transfer- ring capital to these colonies. 5thly. The most eligible situations for the selection of grants of land. Gthly. The expense of bringing this land into a state of cultivation. And, Lastly. The line of conduct which emigrants should adopt on their arrival.

The first step, which persons intending to emigrate to either of these colonies should take, is to make a written application to Earl Ba- thurst, Secretary of State for the Colonies, for a grant of land ; and it is advisable that the applicant should state the amount of his capi- tal, since it is understood that all grants of land are to be in future proportioned to the emi- grant's means of cultivating them. In answer to this application he will receive a circular from the Under Secretary of State, informing him, generally, that his request is acceded to ; but the quantity of land to be assigned him on his arrival in the colony will not be specified, because it has been for many years customary to leave the determination of this point wholly to the Governor. — The grant, however, which is usually given to the ordinary class of emi- grants is from 600 to 800 acres, and the circu- lar, which the applicant will receive from the

474 A WORD OF ADVICE

Colonial Office, in answer to his letter, is the only proof necessary to be produced in the colony of his having received the sanction of his Majesty's government to settle there.

At present, however, no encouragement is held out by government to persons desirous of emigrating to these colonies, unless they pos- sess a capital of at least ,£500. This is a regu- lation of some standing ; but it would be diffi- cult to discover the motives in which it origi- nated ; for it must be evident that it propels great numbers of people, whose means are thus circumscribed, to betake themselves to the United States of America ; and that it was adopted with this view can hardly be imputed to the Government. But, whatever may have been their object in imposing so impolitic a restraint, it may not be amiss here to state that they have no power to prevent emi- gration to these colonies, however they may attempt to restrain it; for by the 53 Geo. III. cap. 155, sec. 39, it is expressly enacted, " that it shall be lawful for any subject of his Majesty, to proceed to, and reside at, any place situate more to the southward than 11° of south latitude, or more to the westward than 64° ; or more to the eastward than 150° of east longi- tude from London, for any lawful purposes, without any license whatever" And even should the customary encouragements be withheld from

TO EMIGRANTS. 4761

the emigrant on his arrival in these colonies, in consequence of his not having obtained the Secretary of State's permission to settle there, — it will be an easy matter for him to purchase good forest land at the distance of 20 or 30 miles from Sydney, for 20s. per acre, — which is as cheap, indeed cheaper than he could obtain land at the same distance from any town of equal extent in America.

2dly. I would not recommend the emigrant, even if it should be his design to devote his attention exclusively to agriculture, to encumber himself with a large stock of agricultural im- plements, as he will obtain them as good, and almost as cheap, of the manufacture of the colony. They are, besides, better adapted to encounter the roots and stones, and other ob- stacles to cultivation, with which land in a state of nature generally abounds, than those which are manufactured in this country ; and, as they are for the most part of a very bulky nature, the freight of them is an object of considera- tion.— He would find a small threshing machine useful, if he understood the management of it. He would also do well to take with him a few dozen sickles, some scythes, harness for his gig, if he intends to keep one, (he will obtain har- ness better and cheaper for his teams and carts, in the colony) a couple of saddles for his own

476 A WORD OF ADVICE

use,* nails of various sizes for his buildings and fences, locks, bolts, and latches for his doors and gates, sieves for sifting his flour,~cooking u tensils? knives, forks, spoons, plates, dishes, &c. — table- cloths, sheeting, towels, and other household linen for his family, mattresses, churns, dishes, pans, &c. for his dairy, and a chest of job- bing carpenters' tools. As for chairs, tables, and other articles of household furniture, he will be able to purchase them very good of the colo- nial manufacture, and cheaper, including the cost of freight, insurance, &c. than he could take them out with him. And as for clothing, I would not recommend him, unless he possess considerable property, to lay in more than would suffice for two years' wear at the fur- thest ; since all that he expends in this way will be so much dead capital, and, of course, will se- riously detract from his chance of forming a suc- cessful establishment for himself and his family. The power too of capital is so prodigious there, that the benefit he will derive from the em- ployment of it in his agricultural pursuits, will more than counterbalance the increased price, which all commodities of British manufacture naturally sell for in the colonial market.

3dly. Emigrants at present are obliged to find their own passage to the colony. Formerly the

" See a list of the proper assortment oi nails, in the Appendix.

TO EMIGRANTS. 477

government used to allow them not only a pas- sage free of expense in the transport vessels, but also rations for themselves and their families. This custom, however, has been of late years discontinued; and free traders are now the only vessels in which emigrants can procure a pas- sage.— The price usually demanded by the cap- tains of these vessels is one hundred guineas for full grown persons; and, where the emigrant has no family, he had better perhaps give this sum, than be troubled with catering for himself, un- less indeed he can manage to form a mess with others similarly circumstanced, which unques- tionably would be the most economical plan, that could be pursued. — To those, however, who have families, there can be no doubt that a con- siderable saving might be effected by laying in their own sea-stock ; perhaps a saving of at least one half of the passage-money. But I would not advise such, as may incline to this • alternative, to trouble themselves with live stock of any description. There is necessarily a great deal of care required in attending to them, and in the end they always prove the most expen- sive provision that can be made. In spite, too, of all the attention that can be lavished on them, they become in a short time so mise- rably lean and sickly, that it requires all the keenness of a sea-appetite to prevent the sight of them from inspiring nausea. — The best provi- sion in the meat way, that can be laid in for a

478 A WORD OF ADVICE

long voyage of this description is the pre- served meat of all kinds, which is sold ready dressed by the patentees, Donkin, Hall, and Gamble, No. 30, Clements Lane, Lombard Street. The price of the common sorts of meat, viz. beef, mutton, veal, and pork, is only 2s. 6d. per pound, which, considering that the bone is taken from the joints before they are cooked, is, it must be allowed, a very moderate charge. — There can, indeed, be no doubt that live stock, whether poultry, sheep, or pigs, would cost considerably more per pound by the end of the voyage. This meat is dressed in tin cases of various sizes, and its preservation from putrefaction is effected by sealing the cases her- metrically, after having previously exhausted the air from them. There is not any danger of their contents, whether fish, flesh, or fowl, be- coming damaged, whatever length of time they may be kept, and however great the variety of climate they may pass through. I have fre- quently partaken of these preserved meats at Sydney, and invariably found them as fresh and as good, as if they had only been dressed the preceding day. — Recommending them, therefore, as a substitute for live stock, I have only to add, that I consider the emigrant should complete his sea-stores with a sufficient quantity of the following articles, calculating, for fear of accidents, on a voyage of six months, viz. biscuit, flour, plums, suet, split peas for soup,

TO EMIGRANTS. 479

salt pork and beef, hams, cheese, butter, por- ter, ale, wine, spirits, lemon-juice, preserved fruits, potatoes, stock-fish, and cods' sounds.

4thly. The most advantageous manner at present of transferring capital to these colonies is by converting it into dollars. The emigrant may safely calculate upon being able to dispose of his dollars at the rate of 6s. each, which, after the payment of 2f per cent, for insurance, will leave him, in the present state of the bul- lion market, a clear profit of about 10 per cent, on the amount of his capital. It is pos- sible, indeed, that he might lay out his money here to much greater advantage in the purchase of merchandize, if he only knew with certainty the state of the colonial market, and could ascertain with what goods it abounded, and in what it was deficient. But to arrive at this knowledge will evidently be out of the power of by far the greater number of emigrants; and without it I would not recommend any person to lay out his capital in the purchase of an investment. And I make this recommen- dation with the more confidence, from a con- sideration of the delays, impositions, and losses, to which the emigrant would be subject, from his ignorance of the character and circum- stances of the persons, with whom he would have to deal in the disposal of his merchandize.

480 A WORD OF ADVICE

— There is a sort of general necessity in all countries to allow the purchasers of goods a limited credit with them. Jn this colony, where, as it has been already stated, the imports inva- riably exceed in value the amount of the in- come and exports, and where the circulating medium is in consequence so inadequate to the purposes of domestic economy, that the rude system of barter, the most obvious and natural substitute for a currency, has crept into general adoption ; — the necessity for giving credit in mercantile transactions must evidently, to a certain extent, be peremptory and irresistible. — Now throwing entirely out of consideration the liability to loss from bad debts, — a liability which certainly cannot but be considerable in a community so constituted, and to which it is clear, that a stranger in his commercial deal- ings would be peculiarly exposed, — the mere delay, which the sale of an investment would occasion in his agricultural pursuits, and the additional expense, which would be incurred by his necessarily residing in the mean time in Sydney, or (if he should emigrate to the Der- went) in Hobart Town, — would, in my opinion, more than countervail, and absorb any profits to be derived from his goods, — however well they might be suited to the market, — and how- ever high the prices that he might obtain for them. — Unless the emigrant, therefore, intend

TO EMIGRANTS. 481

to devote his attention to commercial pursuits, I would, by all means, recommend him to avoid dabbling in merchandize. To those, how- ever, who may emigrate to these colonies with this intention, I can offer but little advice, with respect to the goods, which it would be most eligible for them to purchase, and take out with them. — Those goods, which are in most constant and general demand, are woollen cloths, slops, kerseymeres, flannel, linen, cambric, long cloth, printed cottons, chintzes, millinery, stationery, threads, tapes, pins, needles, and other sorts of haberdashery ; silk, cotton, and worsted hose ; gloves, ladies shoes, calimancoes, cutlery, iron- mongery, rod-iron and steel, glass, crockery ware, porter, ale, cheese, spirits, wine, &c. &c. : — but, of course, the market may happen to be overstocked with many of the above articles, and the speculator, therefore, may not meet with an immediate sale for them on his arrival. If he can, however, only aiford to lay out of his money, he will be sure to dispose of them eventually at a profit.

5thly. Where it will be advisable for the emi- grant to select his land will depend materially on his intended occupations. If he mean to de- vote his attention exclusively to agriculture, the district of Illawarra, or the Five Islands, and the banks of Shoal Haven River,— the latter

i i

482 ' A *OKD OF ADVICE

of which are as yet entirely unappropriated,-^ are the situations, where I would recommend him to settle. If, on the other hand, it be his intention to attend principally to the rearing of stock, whether black cattle, sheep, or horses, I would advise him to select his land in some part of the country westward of the Blue Mountains. — By so doing he would insure for many years to come an unlimited range of lux- uriant pasturage for his flocks and herds ; and — since a track has lately been discovered to this immense western wilderness, through a conti- nuous range of beautiful country only gently undulated with hills, — the expense of convey- ing the transmontane produce to Sydney will be considerably lessened, as soon as the new road, which by the last advices from the colony was to be immediately commenced, — shall be completed. This road is to pass through the cow-pastures, and to lead round the southern extremity of the range of mountains, called " The Blue Mountains," which, till this valu- able discovery, it was believed ran at the dis- tance of fifty or sixty miles from the coast with- out interruption, in a southern direction, as far as Bass's Straits. — Yet it cannot be denied,that,~ however good this road may be, and however inconsiderable the irregularities of surface over which it may pass, — the cost of land-carriage from the western country will always be considerably

TO EMIGRANTS.

greater than of water-carriage from those dis- tricts, which are contiguous to the sea, or are intersected by navigable rivers, — as the Five Islands, — Shoal Haven River, — the Coal River,— the River Hastings, — and other unappropriated tracts, in which the emigrant will have the option of selecting his grant. And it is accord- ingly, as I have before said, in some one or other of these situations that the mere agri- culturist should settle. But with the stock- holder the case is different. — His produce is not, like agricultural produce in general, of a bulky nature, and of but trifling value, and, conse- quently, not able to support the cost of a long and expensive land-carriage. Wool, butter and cheese, which would be his principal returns, are all articles capable of being compressed into a small space, and sufficiently valuable to pay for the additional cost of an inland trans- port from situations much more remote from the metropolis, — than that which I have recom- mended for the selection of this class of emi- grants. And as for the fat cattle and sheep which the stock-holder would annually have for sale, — the expense of sending them to market would be confined to the mere wages and support of the drivers, and to a trifling toll for the use of the yards and paddocks, that might be constructed at the different rest- ing-places for the reception of cattle by night, i i 2

484 A WORD OF ADVICE

As for pasturage, — the country on each side of the road will furnish it ad libitum; and even when the contiguous lands, along the whole line of it, shall be appropriated — a cir- cumstance which cannot take place, at all events, for the next twenty years — the only addition to the above expense will be the hay and fodder, that the cattle may consume on their way to market. The certainty, indeed, of there being henceforth a plentiful supply of these necessary articles is one of the chief ad- vantages, of which this discovery of a new tract to the great western wilderness wilL be productive to the future stockholder. The old road, itjhas been seen, passed over a range of mountains nearly sixty miles in breadth, and of so bleak and barren a nature, that its only vegetable production is a miserable dwarf un- derwood, interspersed every here and there with a few wretched diminutive gum trees. Scarcely a blade of grass is to be «een in the whole of this distance, and it would defy all the skill and industry of man to render it capable of producing any. Cattle and sheep, consequently, on their way to, and from the western coun- try, were unavoidably compelled to traverse these mountains without any sort of- food except the leaves of shrubs and a few occasional tufts of rushes. Many of them, therefore, perished on the route from weakness, and all suffered «o considerable a loss of flesh, as to be

TO EMIGRANTS. 485

greatly deteriorated in value, on their arrival at the market. A situation so repulsive and un- grateful could never have repaid the labours of the husbandman, and, of course, could never have become the seat of any thing like a crowded population. The ultramontanians, therefore, could have no hope of living to see the day, when these heavy and discouraging drawbacks on their industry would be remov- ed ; and it is probable, that the privations and sufferings — which they would have had to en- counter in this desolate and fatiguing traverse, — would have, in a great measure, suspended the intercourse between the eastern and western country, and, in the course of another genera- tion or two, have rendered their posterity as un- civilized and barbarous a race as the Dutch boors, who inhabit the interior parts of Southern Africa. But, thanks to Mr. Throsby's enter- prizing spirit and perseverance, this gradual retrogradation and debasement of the ultramon- tanians is now no longer to be apprehended ; — and a regular, uninterrupted chain of com- munication will gradually extend from the eastern extremities of this vast country to the western, and link together in a communion of interest, knowledge, industry, and civilization, the future myriads of Australasia.

6thly. The expense of converting land from a state of nature into cultivation depends ma-

486 A WORD or AUVICB

terially on whether it be covered with forest, or brush. From the schedule of prices, which are given in the first division of this work, under the head of " price of labour," it will be perceived, that the cost of clearing land of the former description is £'2 18s. per acre, — and of the latter, £3 19s. 6d. — These sums, however, include two several items of £1 10s. and £1 17s. 6d. per acre, for rooting out and burning the stumps, which remain in the land, after the trees are felled: — but, these are mere optional expenses, and, indeed, are never in- curred, but by those, who study ornament. An immense number of stumps, elevated two or three feet above the surface of the field, are certainly objects very repulsive to the eye of a new-comer ; but habit soon removes the dis- gust, which they at first inspire ; and very few, not one person, it may be safely asserted, in a hundred, submit to the cost of ridding their cultivated lands of them. They are seldom or never so close together, as to prevent the use of the plough ; and, — as the drill system of husbandry has not yet been introduced into the colony, — they are found to impede but little the operations of agriculture. Subtracting, then, these two items from the preceding cal- culations, the expense of clearing forest and brush land will be severally reduced to £ I 8s. and £2 2s. per acre ; — and, supposing the emigrant to hare teams of his own, the plough-

fO EMIGRANTS. 487

ing of his ground will not stand him in more than 10s. per acre. Forest land, however, is the only sort that can be ploughed for a first crop ; — the numerous small roots that are in brush land render the use of the hoe, — during the first year of its cultivation, — indispensable. The expense attending this mode of culture, it will be seen, is ,£1 per acre; so that to prepare new lands for the reception of the seed will cost the proprietor of forest land £1 18s. per acre, and of brush land £3 2s. The best seed wheat may be had for 10s. per bushel, and a bushel and a half is the quantity usually sown :— so that, — allowing 5s. per acre for harrowing in the seed on the former sort of land, and 6s. per acre for chipping it in with the hoe in the latter, — the first crop may be got into the ground for £2 18s. in the one in- stance, and for £4 3s. in the other. — Now, supposing the produce of both the above descriptions of land to be only twenty bushels per acre, the crop, — at the rate of 8s. per bushel, which is, perhaps, somewhat below the price it averages in the market throughout the year, — will be worth £8 per acre. — And adding to the above expense of getting in the crop 10s. per acre for reaping it, 6d. per bushel for carrying it to market, and 8d. per bushel for threshing and cleaning it, — there will result to the emigrant, from the first year's cultiva-

A WORD OF ADVICE

tion of his farm, a clear profit of ,£3 8s. 8d. and £2 3s. 8d. per acre, accordingly as his land may be covered with forest or brush. The second year his profits will, of course, be augmented by the entire cost incurred in the clearing of his ground, and by the superior produce of his crop ; for it is not new till lands have been sweet- ened and mellowed by a year's exposure, at the least, to the sun and atmosphere, that they at- tain any thing like their maximum' of fertility.

The expense attending the erection of the buildings necessary for the reception of himself and his family, and for the purposes of his agricultural avocations, will, of course, be re- gulated entirely by the magnitude of the scale, on which they may be attempted. If he be not cramped in his means, it would undoubtedly be the most economical plan, in the long run, to construct at once all his buildings of sub- stantial materials, and on a plan sufficiently extensive for the various objects he may have in view. To complete any thing like a spa- cious house of brick or stone, with a barn, stabling, and the other necessary out-offices in a farm-yard, would require not less than ,£1000 ; but the rude erections, with which new begin- ners commonly content themselves, and which are composed either of solid logs of split wood, placed in a perpendicular position as closely together as possible, and having their inter-

TO EMIGRANTS. 489

slices filled up with mud ; — or else of posts, at the distance of two or three feet asunder, the intervals between which are closed with laths and plaister, and the roof covered with thatch or shingles — may be constructed for one-tenth of the above sum ; — and, if the emigrant's capital be small, it would be unquestionably advisable for him to sink as little of it as possible in building. Let him apply it to the cultivation of his farm, and in the purchase of stock, and the returns from them will soon enable him to erect a more solid and commodious habitation.

Lastly. It is the interest, and ought to be the first object of all such as emigrate to these colonies, for the purpose of devoting them- selves to the pursuits of husbandry, to select their land, and to settle themselves on it, with all possible celerity. A residence in any of the towns, but more particularly in Sydney, ought by all means to be avoided, not only on account of the heavy expense of house-rent, firing, provisions, and, indeed, of all the com- mon necessaries of life ; but because every hour unnecessarily spent there will retard the for- mation of that establishment for himself and his family, which will have been the main, and ultimate object of his emigration. If he, indeed, be surrounded with a family accus- tomed to enjoy the comforts and elegancies of society, it is not to be expected that he should

490 A WOHD 01' ADVIttK

expose them to the hardships of a first settle- ment in a boundless, and almost uninhabited forest. In this case, he must necessarily pro- vide them with a comfortable habitation, until he has prepared one for their reception on his own land. But at all events let him remove with them to the town or township most contiguous to his farm ; or, what would be a still better plan, let him rent a farm-house as near it as he can obtain one. Colonization in every part of the world, however mild and salubrious the cli- mate, and however rich and productive the soil, is attended with difficulties, and necessarily entails privations, of which the inhabitants of old countries can form but little anticipation, and for the endurement of which their past habits will always have more or less disqualified them. Let the emigrant, therefore, give mature consideration to this truth, — before he leave the land of his nativity. When once arrived in this colony, he will have no safe alternative but to grapple manfully with the difficulties, which he will have to encounter. On the other hand, let him not forget that there is a flexibility in human nature, which will soon enable him to bend to emergencies, and to accommodate himself to circumstances, however repugnant they may appear to him on their first ap- proach. This principle, too, is most easily called into action, when the habits to be ac- quired have a recurrence towards the original

TO EMIGRANTS. 491

state of nature, and are not the consequence of a superior degree of civilization and refine- ment. It is an easier task to throw off a thou- sand old restraints, than to submit to a single new one. Every change, that relieves us from any of the thraldoms of civilized society, is readily endured, — soon becomes indifferent, and ultimately agreeable. And although the emi- grant, in the rude cabin that will probably be his first shelter, may occasionally regret the absence of the numerous luxuries and enjoy- ments, which he has abandoned, and can no longer command,— yet, if he recollect that by his personal exertions he may soon raise a home as comfortable as the one he has left behind him ; — a home where he may enjoy the entire fruits of his labours, and where he will have neither rent, nor taxes, nor tithes, nor poor- rates to shackle his industry and neutralize his efforts to arrive at affluence and indepen- dence,— I say, if he reflect duly on these circum- stances, he will find that he has ample cause to rejoice in his change of situation: — and the tem- porary hardships and privations attending his first establishment will soon merge in the gra- tifying contemplation of the subsequent ease and happiness, which he may safely calculate not only on enjoying himself,— but on bequeath- ing as a legacy to his children.

APPENDIX.

Civil Establishment, and Public Institutions in the Territory of New South Wales and its Dependencies.

SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, SYDNEY.

CAPTAIN General, Governor in Chief, Vice Admiral and Commander of the Forces, His Excellency Lach- lan Macquarie, Esq. Major General in the Army, and Lieutenant Colonel of the 73d Regiment.

Lieutenant Governor, James Erskine, Esq. Lieute- nant Colonel of the 48th Regiment.

Aid-de-Camp to his Excellency the Governor, John Watts, Lieutenant in the 46th Regiment.

Major of Brigade, Henry Colden Antill, Captain in the 73d Regiment.

High Court of Appeals.

Judge, His Excellency the Governor in Chief. Secretary, John Thomas Campbell, Esq.

494 APPENDIX.

Clerk, Michael Robertson, Gent. Door-keeper, Serjeant Charles Whalan, of the 46th Regiment.

Court of Vice Admiralty.

Judge, John Wylde, Esq. L. L. B. Registrar, John Thomas Campbell, Esq. Clerk to the Registrar, Mr. Michael Robinson. Marshal, William Gore, Esq. Cryer, Mr. Edward Quin.

The Governor's Court.

The Honorable th» Judge Advocate and Premier Judge of this Territory, John Wylde, Esq. L.I,. P..

Members, Two Inhabitants of the Territory, spe- cially appointed by Precept from His Excellency the Governor and Commander of the Forces.

Clerk, and Registrar of the Court, Joshua J. Moore, Gent.

Cryer, Mr. Edward Quin.

#.£* And it is to be noted, that this Court has cogni- zance of all pleas, where the amount sued for does not exceed 501. sterling (except such pleas as may arise between party and party, in Van Diemen's Land) ; and from its decisions there is no appeal.

The Supreme Court.

The Honorable the Judge, Barren Field, Esq. Members, Two Magistrates of the Territory, ap- pointed by Precept from His Excellency the Governor. Clerk of the Supreme Court, Mr. John Gurner. Cryer, Mr. Edward Quio.

"APPENDIX. 495

Solicitors— Mr. Thomas Wylde ; Mr. William Henry Moore ; Mr. Frederick Garling ; Mr. T. S. Amos.

Secretary's Office.

Secretary, John Thomas Campbell, Esq. Principal Clerk, Michael Robinson, Gent. Second ditto, Mr. Charles Reid. Assistant Clerks, Mr. James Sumpter ; Mr. Tho- mas Ryan.

Commissariat Staff.

Deputy Commissary General, Fred. Drennan, Esq. ;

Assistant Commissary General, John Palmer, Esq. Parramatta ;

Acting Assistant Commissary General, VV. Brough- ton, Esq. Hobart Town ;

Deputy Assistant Commissary Generals, Win. Cor- deaux, Esq. Thos. Walker, Esq.

Acting Ditto, Thomas Archer, Esq. Port Dalrymple.

Clerks on the Commissariat Staff, Mr. E. Hobson, Parramatta ; Mr. A. Allan, Sydney ; Mr. R. Fitzge- rald, Windsor ; Mr. George Johnston, Sydney

Principal Assistant Clerk, Mr. T. W. Middleton

Storekeepers, Mr. W. Scott, Sydney ; Mr. S. Larken, Parramatta ; Mr. John Tucker, Newcastle ; Mr. R. Dry, Port Dalrymple ; Mr. John Gowen, Liverpool ; Mr. John Rayner, Hobart Town

Assistant Clerks, Mr. John Flood, Mr. E. J. Yates, Mr. John Rickards, Mr. J. Hankinson, Mr. George Smith, Mr. C. Sommers, Mr. N. Edgworth, Mr. C. Bridges, Mr. W. Todhunter, Mr. Richard Walker, Mr. Todd Watson, at Sydney

Mr. J. Obee, at Parramatta; Mr. B. Rix, at Wind- sor ; Mr. W. Kitchener, Port Dal. ; Mr. John Gregory, Hobart Town ; Mr. W. Turner, Hobart Town

APPENDIX.

Messenger, Thomas Parsons Store Assistant, T. Jennings Cooper, Edward Hewen

Provost Marshall's Department* Provost Marshall, William Gore, Esq. Clerk, Mr. James Foster Bailiff and Officer at Sydney, Mr. W. Evans ; Ditto at Windsor, &c. Mr. Richard Ridge

Church Establishment.

Principal Chaplain of the Territory, the Rev. Sa- muel Marsden, Parramatta ;

Assistant Chaplain at Sydney, Rev. Wm. Cowper ;

Assistant Chaplain at Windsor, Rev. Robert Cart- wright ;

Assistant Chaplain at Castlereagh, the Rev. Henry Fulton ;

Assistant Chaplain for Port Dalrymple, but now officiating at Liverpool, Rev. John Youl ;

Assistant Chaplain appointed for Liverpool, Rev. Ben. Vale, returned to Europe on leave of absence

Parish Clerk of St. Philip's, Sydney, Mr. Thomas Taber ;

Ditto of St. John's, Parramatta, Mr. John Eyre ;

Ditto of the Chapel at Windsor, Mr. Joseph Harpur

MAGISTRATES.

The Principal Magistrate of the Territory, aud Chairman of the Bench of Magistrates at Sydney, the Honorable the Judge Advocate.

Magistrates of the Territory and its Dependencies. D'Arcy Wentworth, Esq. John Thomas Campbell, Esquire.

APPENDIX. 497

Magistrates of the various Settlements of the Territory.

At Sydney, W. Broughton, Esq. absent at Hobart Town ; Simeon Lord, Esq. Richard Brooks, Esq.

Clerk to the Bench of Magistrates, Joshua John Moore, Gent

Assistant Clerk, Mr. Ezekiel Wood

At Parramatta, Hannibal M'Arthur, Esq.

At Windsor, William Cox, Esq

At Wilberforce, Capt. Brabyn, of the Vet. Company ;

At Castlereagh, James Mileham, Esq. Rev. Henry Fulton ;

At Liverpool, Thomas Moore, Esq.

At Bringelly, Robert Lowe, Esq.

At Hobart Town, Rev. Robert Knopwood, A. M. A. W. H. Humphrey, Esq. James Gordon, Esq. Major Bell, 48th Regiment, Thomas Archer Esq.

At Port Dalrymple, Major Cimitiere, 48th Regi- ment.

Medical Staff,

Principal Surgeon, James Bowman, Esq. First Assistant ditto, Mr. Jas. Mileham, at Windsor Second ditto ditto, Mr. William Redfern, at Sydney ; Acting ditto ditto, Mr. Wm. Evans, at Newcastle ; Acting ditto ditto, Mr. Major West, at Parramatta ; Acting ditto ditto, Mr. R. W. Owen, at Sydney ; Acting ditto ditto, at the Lunatic Asylum, Castle ; Hill, Mr. Thomas Parmeter ;

Assistant at General Hospital, Mr. Henry Cowper.

Surveyors of Crown Lands. Surveyor General, John Oxley, Esq. K K

498 APPENDIX.

Deputy Surveyor, Mr. James Meehan Ditto at Hobart Town, Mr. G. W. Evans

Collector of Quit-Rents, Mr. James Meehan

Naval Officer's Department. Naval Officer, John Piper, Esq. Assistant to the Naval Officer, Mr. Alfred Thrupp

Wharfingers, Mr. William Hutchinson ; Mr. James Stewart

Acting Engineer, and Artillery Officer, and In- spector of Government Works, Major Druitt; 48th Regiment

Civil Architect, Mr. F. H. Greenway

Barrack Master, Charles M'Intosh, Esq.

His Majesty's Dock Yard. Master Boat Builder, Mr. William Cossar Book-keeper, Mr. John Fowler

Harbour Master, Mr. Stephen Milton

Superinten den ts.

Of Government Stock, Mr. Rowland Hassall ;

Assistant Superintendent of ditto, Mr. Sam. Hassall ;

Of the Lunatic Asylum at Castle Hill, Mr. George Sutter ;

Of Government Labourers and Cattle, and of Public Works at Windsor, Mr. Richard Fitzgerald ;

Of Public Labourers, &c. at Sydney, Mr. William Hutchinson ;

APPENDIX. 499

Of Carpenters at Parramatta, Mr. Richard Rouse ;

Of Bricklayers, Mr. Thomas Legg ;

Of Government Mills, Mr. Abraham Hutchinson.

Principal Overseers of Government Stock, under the Orders

of the Superintendent. Mr. Thomas Arkell, and Mr. William Chalker.

Trustees and Commissioners of Turnpike Roads and Highways.

For the Roads from Sydney to Hawkesbury, D'Arcy Wentworth, Simeon Lord, and James Mileham, Esquires ;

For the Roads to and from Liverpool, branching out at any of the above, Thomas Moore, Esq.

Inspector of Highways and Bridges, Mr. James Meehan.

Female Orphan Institution. Patron, His Excellency the Governor. Patronesses, Mrs. Macquarie ; Mrs. Wylde ; Mrs. Hannibal M'Arthur; Mrs. Field; Mrs. Palmer. COMMITTEE FOR THE ORPHAN FUND. His Honor Lieutenant Governor Erskine ; The Honorable Mr. Judge Advocate Wylde; J. T. Campbell, Esq. Secretary to Government; The Reverend Samuel Marsden, Principal Chaplain; The Reverend Wm. Cowper, Assistant Chaplain ; Hannibal M'Arthur, Esq. Treasurer, Reverend Samuel Marsden ; Master of the School, Mr. Thos. Collicott ; Matron, Mrs. Collicott.

K K 2

500 APPENDIX.

Institution for the Civilization. Care, and Education of the

Aborigines or Black Natives of New South Wales. Patron, the Governor ; Patroness, Mrs. Macquarie.

COMMITTEE. 1. His Honor Lieutenant GovernorErskine, President.

2. The Honorable Mr. Judge Advocate Wylde ; —

3. .1. T. Campbell, Esq.— 4. D. Wentworth, Esq.— 5. William Redfern, Esq.— 6. H. M'Arthur, Esq.— 7. The Rev. Wm. Cowper ;— 8. The Rev. Hen. Fulton ; —9. Mr. Rowland Hassall.

Secretary and Treasurer of the Institution, John Thomas Campbell, Esq.

Schoolmistress, Mrs. Shelly.

Masters of the Public Schools throughout the Territory.

At Sydney, Mr. Thomas Bowden ;

At Liverpool, Mr. Robert Keeves ;

At Parramatta, Mr. John Eyre ;

At Windsor, Mr. Joseph Harpur;

At Richmond, Mr. Matthew Hughes ;

At Kissing Point, Mr. James Cooper;

At Wilberforce, Mr. M. P. Thompson ;

At Newcastle, Mr. H. Rainsforth.

Police Establishment at Sydney.

Committee of the Police Fund. The Lieutenant Governor; the Judge Advocate. Treasurer, D'Arcy Weutworth, Esq. Superintendent of Police, D'Arcy Wentworth, Esq. Assistant to the Superintendent, Mr. R. L. Murray ; Principal Clerk in the Police Office, Mr. R. L. Murray ; Assistant Clerk, Mr. Ezekiel Wood. SixDistrict Constables, and 50 Constablesin Ordinary;

APPENDIX.

501

Chief Constable at Sydney, Mr. John Redman ; Ditto ditto at Parramatta, Mr. Francis Oakes ; Ditto ditto at Windsor, Mr. John Howe. Keeper of the County Gaol at Sydney, Mr. John Jacques.

Clerk to ditto, Mr. Isaac Nelson.

Coroner, Mr. J. W. Lewin.

Ditto for Windsor, and the Districts on the Banks of the Hawkesbury, Mr. Thomas Hobby.

Bank of New South Wale*. President, J. T. Campbell, Esq. Directors, D'Arcy Wentworth, Esq. ; John Harris, Esq. ; Thomas Wylde, Esq. ; William Redfern, Esq. ; Edward Riley, Esq. ; Robert Jenkins, Esq. Secretary and Cashier, F. Williams, Esq. Principal Accountant, Mr. Thos. Wills; Solicitor to the Bank, Thos. Wylde, Esq.

Printing Office. Government Printer, Mr. George Howe.

Post Office.

Post Master, Mr. Isaac Nichols. Deputy at Hobart Town, Mr. James Mitchell.

Licensed Auctioners and Appraisers.

At Sydney, Mr. Simeon Lord ; Mr. David Bevan.

At Parramatta, Mr. Richard Rouse ; Mr. Francis Oakes.

At Windsor, Mr. John Howe.

Clerk of the Market at Sydney, Mr. Miles Field- gate.

602 APPENDIX.

Clerk of the Market and Fair at Parramatta, Mr. Francis Oakes.

N. B. These Fairs are held half-yearly; viz. the second Thursday in March, and the first Thursday in October.

MARINE ESTABLISHMENT.

His Majesty's Colonial Cutter Mermaid, employed in surveying the Coast, Lieutenant Philip Parker King, R. N. Commander.

His Majesty's Colonial Brig Elizabeth Henrietta, Mr. Thomas Whyte, Master.

His Majesty's Colonial Brig Lady Nelson, at present undergoing repair, Mr. David Smith, Master.

Harbour Pilots.

At Port Jackson, Mr. Robert Mason; Mr. Robert Murray. At Hunter's River, Robert Whitmore.

Newcastle.

Commandant, Captain Wallis, of the 46th Regt. Acting Assistant Surgeon, Mr. William Evans. Store-keeper, Mr. John Tucker.

Civil Establishment at Hobart Town. Lieutenant Governor of the Settlements on Van Diemen's Land, Lieutenant Colonel William Sorrell ; Deputy Judge Advocate, Edward Abott, Esq. Chaplain, Reverend R. Knopwood, A. M. Surgeon, Mr. Edward Luttrell ; Assistant Surgeon, Mr. H. St. John Younge ;

APPENDIX. 603

Acting Assistant Commissary General, Thomas Archer, Esq.

Provost Marshall, Mr. Martin Tims ;

Surveyor of Lands, Mr. G. W. Evans

Inspector of Public Works, Major Bell, 48th Regt. ;

Naval Officer, Mr. E. F. Bromley ;

Storekeeper, Mr. Rayner ;

Auctioneer, Mr. Richard Lewis;

Harbour Pilot, Mr. Michael Mansfield ;

Two Superintendents, and two Overseers.

Magistrates at Hobart Town.

Reverend R. Knopvvood, A. M. ; Thomas Archer, Esq. ; James Gordon, Esq. ; A. W. H. Humphrey* Esq. ; Francis Williams, Esq. ;

The Lieutenant Governor's Court, Fan Diemen's Land.

Deputy Judge Advocate, Edward Abbott, Esq. ; And two resident Inhabitants, appointed as Members by His Honor the Lieutenant Governor.

Clerk to the Deputy Judge Advocate, Mr. Abbott.

*%* And it is by Charter provided, that the present and all future Governors, Lieutenant Governors, the Judge Advocate, Judge of the Supreme Court, and Deputy Judge Advocate, shall be Justices of the Peace throughout the Territory and its Dependencies ; and all Places and Settlements therein, with ail the Powers possessed by Justices of the Peace in England, within their respective Jurisdiction.

504 APPENDIX.

Civil Establishment at Port Dalrymple.

Commandant and Magistrate, Brevet Major Cimi- tiere, 48th Regt.

Assistant Chaplain, now doing duty at Head Quar- ters, Reverend John Youl ;

Surgeon, Mr. Jacob Mountgarret ;

Assistant Surgeon, Mr. John Smith;

Superintendent of the Government Herds, David Rose, Esq.

Inspector of Government Public Works, Mr. Wil- liam Elliot Leith ;

Store-keeper, Mr. R. Dry.

Harbour Master.

Master of the Public School, Mr. Thomas M'Queen ;

Acting Master Carpenter, Mr. Richard Sydes.

FEES AND DUES IN THE VARIOUS OFFICES,

SECRETARY'S OFFICE. — GOVERNOR'S FEES.

£ s. d.

For the great seal to every grant, not exceeding

1000 acres - . - 0 5 0

For all grants exceeding 1000 acres, for every

1000 each grant contains - - 0 2 6

For a license of occupation - - 0 5 0

Secretary^ Fees.

For every grant, and passing the seal of the pro- vince, if under 100 acres - -050

Between 100 and 500 acres - - 0 10 0

APPENDIX. 505

£ *. <L

All above 0 15 0

In grants of land, where the number of pro- prietors shall exceed 20, each right 026 In ditto, where the number of proprietors shall not exceed 20, the same as for grants in pro- portion to the quantity of land

For license of occupation of land - 026

For every grant of land from 1000 to 20,000 acres, take for the first 1000 acres 15s. and for every 1000 acres more, 2s. 6d.

Fees to be taken by the Surveyor General of Lands. For each grant, not exceeding 40 acres 076 Ditto 90 ditto 010 0

Ditto 190 ditto 0 15 0

Ditto 250 ditto 1 0 0

Ditto 350 ditto 1 10 0

Ditto 400 ditto 200

Ditto 750 ditto 2 12 6

Ditto 1000 ditto 350

Ditto, on town leases, per foot on street front 001 And on all grants exceeding 1000 acres for each

100 acres so exceeding - - 040

Auditors Fees. For the auditing of every grant - 034

Registrar's Fees. For recording a grant of land, for or under 500

acres 0 1 3

For ditto from 500 to 1000 acres 026

For every 100 acres to the amount of 20,000 010 6 For recording a grant of a township 1 0 0

606 APPENDIX.

To be received in the Secretary's Office.

£ g. d.

On all colonial appointments, and commissions of whatever kind, where the official seal is affixed 550

On all special licenses for marriages 440

On the registering of vessels exceeding 40 tons

per ton 010

And to the Principal Clerk 0 10 0

For all vessels not exceeding 40 tons 200

And to the Principal Clerk 010 0

On affixing official seal to the clearances of vessels of foreign voyages, or fishing, per ton 006

For every person leaving the colony, whereof

Is. goes to the Principal Clerk 026

Transcripts of all papers, per folio of 72 words

Is. and transcribing Clerk, per ditto, 3d. 0 1 3

Licenses for colonial vessels coastwise to the Coal River, Hawkesbury, or elsewhere, not extending to Van Diemen's Land or Bass's Straits, as heretofore to Coal River * 050

Fees to the Principal Clerk.

On free or conditional pardons, each 056

Certificates and tickets of leave, each 028

N. B. — Six-pence of the free and conditional pardons, and two-pence on certificates and tickets of leave, are to be paid to the Go- vernment Printer, as a remuneration for the paper and printing.

On Receiving Appeals.

If for the sum of £50, or under, as heretofore 1 1 0 Upwards of £50, and not exceeding £100 220

APPENDIX. 607

£ s. d.

Upwards of £100, and not exceeding 300 350 Any sum exceeding £300 - 550

^ , f To the Principal Clerk 0 10 0

On all Appeals^

CTo the Door-keeper 050

Affixing colonial seal to appeals to the King

in Council - 550

Principal Clerk 0 10 0

Transcripts of all papers, per folio of 72 words Is. and transcribing Clerk per ditto 3d. - - - 013

NAVAL OFFICE.

Entry for a ship with articles for sale, and in

Government service - 015

Ditto, ditto, and not in Government service 1 10 Ditto, with no articles, ditto ditto - 015

Ditto, for all foreign vessels - 30

Permission to wood and water, for every vessel

not exceeding 100 tons per register 100

For every vessel upwards of 100, and not

exceeding 200 tons. - 200

For every vessel upwards of 200, and not

exceeding 300 ditto - 300

For every vessel upwards of 300, and not

exceeding 400 ditto - 400

For every vessel upwards of 400, and not

exceeding 500 ditto - - 500

For every vessel upwards of 500 tons 600

Ditto to trade - . - 110

Dues of each bond "• -. 0 10 6

Ditto of port clearance - 050

Ditto ditto to the Naval officer's Clerk 026

508 APPENDIX.

£. 6'. d.

Dues to Naval Officer's Clerk, for each per- mit to land spirits or wine, per cask 0 0 61

For Colonial Vessels. Deeds of entry and clearance to the Hawk.es-

bury 040

Ditto ditto to Newcastle 0 10 0

Ditto to the fishery, or settlements, at the

southward - - 0 10 0

Ditto to Naval Officer's Clerk 020

King's Dues for Orphans.

For each ton of coals for home consumption 026 Ditto ditto exported - 050

For each 1000 square feet of timber for home

consumption 300

Ditto ditto exported 600

Duties.

Ships from any part of the world importing cargoes (the manufactures of Great Britain excepted) to pay a duty of 5 per cent, ad valorem on the amount of their respective invoices.

On every gallon of spirits landed 0 10 0

Ditto wine ditto 009

On every pound of tobacco 0 06

Wharfage on each bale, cask, or package 006 The Naval Officer to receive 5 per cent, on all duties collected at this port.

Wharfinger's Fees. On each bale, cask, or package, landed or

shipped 0 0 3

Metage per ton on coals 026

Measure of timber, per 1000 feet - 020

APPENDIX. 509

The following duties to be levied and collected by the Naval Officer on the articles hereunder named, upon their arrival and landing, whether for colonial consumption or re-shipment.

£ s. d.

On each ton of sandal wood 2100

On each ton of pearl shells 2 10 0

On each ton of beech-le-mer 500

On each tun of sperm oil (252 gallons) 2 10 0

On each tun of black whale or other oil 200 On each fur seal skin - 001^

On each hair ditto 000^

On each kangaroo ditto - 0 0 0£

On cedar, or other timber, from Shoal Ha- ven, or any other part of the coast or har- bours of New South Wales (Newcastle ex- cepted, as the duties are already prescribed there), when not supplied by Government labourers, for each solid foot - 010

For every 20 spars from New Zealand or

elsewhere 100

On timber, in log or plank, from New Zea- land or elsewhere, for each solid foot 010

GAOLER'S FEES.

From every debtor on his discharge from

each action - 100

From every sailor confined for being disor- derly, for the first night thereof - 026

For every following night - 010

From every free person thereof, and person having a ticket of leave, taken up and con- fined for being disorderly, on the discharge of the same, each - 030

510 APPENDIX.

£ «. d.

From every person receiving a certificate of his or her term of transportation being ex- pired (reference being always had to the black book in his possession) 006

Fees to be received by the Chief Constable.

On the apprehending and lodging in gaol any sailor who may be found riotous or disor- derly, of constables assisting in the appre- hension 026

For each night that sailors so apprehended may be confined ; which is to be directed as the foregoing - 026

For the apprehending of deserters or runa- way sailors, to be divided equally among apprehending constables and himself 200

For serving summonses from the Judge Ad- vocate's Office, for debts under 40s. each summons 010

For the seizure of stills, or other articles pro- hibited by the Colonial Regulations, and ordered for distribution among the seizing Constables, the Chief Constable is to re- ceive an equal proportion with them.

Surplice Fees.

Marriages by License, Clergyman 330

Clerk 0 10 6

Sexton 050

Ditto by Bans, free? Clergyman . 0 10 6 persons

Cbans - 020 Clerk •>

t marriage 030

APPENDIX.

£ s. d.

Sexton 0 10 6

Christenings, for re-? Clerk 010

gistering j

Churching, free per-? clergyman _ Q l Q

sons only 3

Clerk 006

Sexton 006

Funerals, free persons — Clergyman 030

Clerk 0 1 0

Bell 006

Grave digger 026

Post Office Charges.

Every letter, English or Foreign 008

Every parcel not exceeding 201bs. 016

Every ditto if exceeding 201bs. - 030

Every colonial letter from any part of the

territory - - 004

Soldiers' letters, or those addressed to their

wives 001

Market Duties at Sydney. — Grain, &c. lodged in the store to be paid for as follows ; viz. wheat or barley 3d. per bushel ; maize or oats 2d. per ditto ; potatoes 3d. per cwt. and if not sold the same day shall pay store-room rent every succeeding market day the articles continue there, to the clerk, who is not to deliver up such articles until the same be paid.

Market and Fair Duties at Paramatta.

For each horse, mare, gelding, or foal, if

sold 0 1 6

Ditto ditto, ditto, if not sold 006

For each bull, cow, ox, or calf, if sold 0 10

Ditto ditto, ditto, if not sold 004

512 APPENDIX.

£ s. d.

Sheep, Iambs, or pigs, per score, if sold 020

Ditto ditto, ditto, if not sold 008

And any number of sheep, lambs, or pigs,

under a score, for each sold 00 \\

Ditto ditto, ditto, if not sold 0 0 0}

Ferry across the River Hawkesbury, called Nowland's Ferry.

Tolls for each foot passenger - 003

A saddle horse 0 1 C

A foal 006

A horse and chaise - 026

A cart with 1 horse or two bullocks 026

A ditto with 2 horses or 3 bullocks 030

A waggon with 4 horses or 6 bullocks 040

For horned cattle Is. per head For ditto if more than 1, and not exceeding 20, 9d.

per ditto

For ditto, if upwards of 20, 6d. per ditto For sheep 2s. per score, or 7s. 6d. per hundred For hogs and goats 2d. each, or 2s. per score Passengers to pass and repass the same day for one

payment.

Toll Gates between Sydney and Paramatta.

For each head of horned cattle 002

For each score of sheep or swine 0 0 10

For every single horse - 003

For every cart drawn by a single horse or

bullock 004

For every cart drawn by 2 horses or bul- locks 006 For every cart drawn by 3 horses or bul- locks - 0 0 9

APPENDIX. 513

£ s. d.

For every cart drawn by 4 horses or bul- locks i- i - 0 0 10 For every waggon drawn by 2 horses or bul- locks - 0 0 10 For every waggon drawn by 3 horses or bul- locks - . 010 For every waggon drawn by 4 horses or bul- locks or more . - 0-1-2 For every single horse chaise - 010 For every curricle with two horses - 016 For a four-wheel carriage drawn by 2 horses 020 For the same drawn by 3 horses - 026 For the same drawn by 4 horses - 030 N. B. The tolls between Parramatta and Windsor are exactly the same as those between Sydney and Parramatta, only at the former a cart drawn by four horses or bullocks is lOd. Tolls at the New Bridge over the South Creek at Windsor,

.. called Howe Bridge.

For each foot passenger - - 002

Ditto ditto single horse - 006

Ditto ditto ditto, or bullock in draft - 010

A cart, with 2 horses or bullocks - 012

For each horse or bullock above that number 002 Waggons, or four wheeled carriages, with

two horses or bullocks 016

For each head of cattle not in draft, under a

score - - 006

For every score - - 050

Ditto ditto per hundred 1 0 0

Ditto ditto sheep, goat, or pig, under a

score - 001

Ditto ditto a score 010

L L

514 APPENDIX.

The Governor and Family, the Lieutenant Governor, and all persons on public duty to pass free.

Tolls to be taken at the Ferry across the River Hawkesbury. V (This is Mr. Howe's Ferry.)

£ *. d.

For each foot passenger 003

A single horse - - - 010

A single horse chaise - 016

A chaise with two or more horses - 026

A cart with one horse or bullock 026

Each additional horse or bullock - 003

Waggons, or 4 wheeled carriages, with 3

horses or bullocks - - 020

Each horse or bullock - 003

Each head of cattle not in draft, under 6 009 Ditto ditto under 20 006

Every score • 076

Every sheep, goat, or pig, under a score 0 0 1 Ditto ditto per score - 010

Ditto ditto per hundred - 040

The unweaned young of every kind, half price.

Tolls to be taken at the Bridge oner the Chain of Ponds, near Windsor.

For a single horse - 003

A cart and horse, or two bullocks - 006

Ditto with more than two - 009

A waggon with 3 horses or 4 bullocks 0 1 0

Ditto with more - 0 1 3

A single horse chaise - 010

A four-wheel carriage - 016

Horned cattle, each - 002

Sheep and pigs, per score 010

APPENDIX. 516

THE COLONIAL GARDEN.

POTATOES,

For a general winter crop in field or garden, should be planted from the end of January to the end of Fe- bruary, or even the beginning of March, rather than lose the planting ; and they will come into use in win- ter, when cabbages and other vegetables run to seed. The ground should, if possible, be prepared a month before the planting, and a preference given by the country gardener to new ground, or dry wheat stub- ble, where the soil is light. The town gardener should keep his ground in a good state by frequent light ma- nuring.

The sets made choice of should be the produce of the last winter crop ; and when planted should have a covering of light manure; without which the ground will be impoverished ; but with such assistance be im- proved.

The best potatoes to preserve for sets are of a mid- dle size, as well for profit as security ; for if the argest are made use of, there must be a considerable waste ; and those of the dwarf kind should be rejected, from their degeneracy and weakness.

An experienced gardener, who has been a settler here more than twenty years, plants his seed potatoes uncut for the winter crop ; his reason for which is, that if they are cut they are likely to perish in the ground, from the rains of March ; which will not be the case if put in whole.

In July the ground should be prepared for the sum- mer crop, at which time the winter crop will be fit for diggiog ; in which process every care should be taken

L L2

516 APPENDIX.

to prevent their being bruised ; and if possible they should be dug in cloudy weather, to avoid exposure to the sun, which would rot them ; whereas if carefully preserved they will keep sound for a length of time; which will be the more desirable, as at this season vegetables are mostly scarce and dear.

In August the planting should be made, or even in September, if necessary ; and at the end of the latter, or in October, they will require to be hilled and earthed, and well cleansed from weeds, which must also now and then be done as weeds make their appearance. In the choice of seed for this crop, a middle sized potatoe should be preferred, without any objection to their being cut, as is the customary mode of planting.

Manure. — Fresh stable dung, and litter, or decayed thatch, answers better for manure than that which is very rotten ; but if the ground be fresh and light, they will want no manure, and the potatoes be of a better quality, though probably less plentiful.

In October you may also plant potatoes for a latter crop; and this, though perhaps less abundant than that sown in August or the beginning of September, will nevertheless be sufficiently productive to pay well the expence and labour of planting.

The potatoe is so essential and desirable an article of food, that too much care cannot be bestowed in their culture and preservation ; for should other crops fall short, this will afford the grower a certain means of supporting his family.

CARROTS AND PARSNIPS, For a general crop, may be best sown in December and January. The ground should be dug deep, and

APPENDIX. 517

broke up very fine. If the soil be light, the seed should be sown on a calm day, and trod in.

Carrots and Parsnips may also be planted in July, and also in November. They thrive best in an open situation, or a light sandy soil ; and after they come up, should be thinned and set out with a small two inch garden hoe.

CABBAGES,

For a constant supply may be sown in January, April, May, July, August, October, and early in No- vember, at a time when the ground is in a moist state. The plants sown in April will not run to seed. Care should be taken to set out the plants in a richer and stronger ground than the bed they are taken from ; otherwise the crop will be poor. Their first bed should now and then be weeded with the hand, in dry weather, and the freshest and strongest plants removed first. In setting them out, a passage should be allowed between the rows of at least two feet, and in the rows the plants kept eighteen or twenty inches distant from each other, which will allow them a free circulation of air. As they grow up, they should occasionally be earthed up a little, and carefully weeded, as nothing has a more negligent and slovenly appearance than a foul bed of cabbage. In very dry hot weather, their first bed should be watered now and then ; after rain they should be set out, but not during its continuance, as it would wash the mould from the roots, and num- bers decay without taking root at all in the new bed. Cabbages run to seed in August and September.

A gardener of long experience in the Colony has favoured us with the following remarks on the culture

618 APPENDIX.

of the cabbage : " Although cabbage seed may be here sown with advantage at several times of the year, yet I have of late years confined myself to two sowings only: namely, in January, and as near the middle of May as I could find the weather most favourable, for two general crops. That sown in January comes well in for a winter supply ; but must be taken great care of, or will come to nothing ; for as January is one of our hottest months, they will require to be shaded from the sun's excessive heat by boughs, which if closely twined together will continue their shelter even after the leaves are withered ; and also, to be watered at least once in every two or three days, until they get pretty strong in the ground. The other crop, sown in May, will come into use early in summer ; and do not

require any care more than they usually receive."

TURNIPS.

The ground should be prepared in February ; and at the latter end of the month some may be planted ; for which purpose gentle showery weather is most fa- vourable.

Turnips for a general crop should be sown early in March, and they will be ready for food for sheep in the beginning of May. During their growth they re- quire hoeing once or twice, to thin and keep them clean, if the land be foul.

Turnips for table use may be sown at any time be- tween March and September, or the beginning of No- vember, when absolutely necessary.

Turnips for Sheep. — The ground should be pre pared in January and February, by the plough or hoe, harrowing, manuring, and totally cleansing it from all

APPENDIX. 519

weeds whatever, so that it be brought into the best state possible.

The Seed. — To raise turnip seed properly is an ob- ject worthy of the strictest attention. To do this, the bed should be examined carefully when the turnips have attained about a third of their size, and the largest, smoothest, and most healthy taken up and transplanted into a richer bed, in rows a foot wide, and about six inches between the plants that are in the same row. — The seed will be fit to cut the latter eud of November.

CAULIFLOWER.

The seed may be sown at any time between Novem- ber and February ; but best in December. Some sow about the middle of May for a summer crop, and this practice is found to answer.

ASPARAGUS.

The seed should be sown in October, in drills, four drills in a bed four feet wide, the ground being first well prepared, and richly manured. At the latter end of April, or beginning of May, the haulm should be cut down within two inches of the bed (though some cut it nearly level), and constantly kept from weeds. The ground should be dug with a three pronged fork, and not with a spade, as the latter will cut the crown of the roots, and destroy the plants. A professed gar- dener, of twenty-three years practice in the colony, assures us, that he has now a bed of twenty years standing, which constantly yielded a good crop until the year before last, the failure of which he attributed to the ground being worn out, and therefore set out a fresh bed. In this country it requires a cool soil, and

620 APPENDIX.

that the beds should not be laid too high, four or five inches being a sufficient height.

ONIONS.

In March prepare the ground, by breaking it up well, and richly manuring it. At the end of the month, and beginning of April, sow for a light crop of onions for immediate use.

In April prepare for a general crop, which should be sown at the latter end of the month, or beginning of May, to keep them from going to seed. When they grow to a proper size, which will be from the latter end of October to the beginning of November, they should be carefully laid down, so as not to break the tops ; for should the tops be broke, and the wet pene- trate, the onions will inevitably spoil. When fit to draw, they should be gathered on a fine dry day, and lain under cover, so as not to be at all exposed to the sun.

PEASE AND BEANS of all kinds. The ground should be prepared in March, by well working and manuring ; and at the end of the month, and in April, they may be sown for a spring crop. — Some sow from the beginning of March till the middle of June, as occasion may require.

Prepare in August for a latter crop ; and French beans may be as well sown in October as at any other time.

CUCUMBERS, PUMPKINS, AND MELONS, The ground should be got ready for these in August, and they should be sown in September.

APPENDIX. 521

RADISHES, May be sown when turnips are sown.

LETTUCES AND SMALL SALLADS, Are sown every month, for a constant supply ; but lettuces are best sown in April and November, and small sallads in May, and the latter end of November.

GRASS AND CLOVER.

Turnip ground, on which either is intended to be sown, should be cleared, cleaned, and broke up in August, great care being taken to leave no weeds or large clods.

SPINAGE, Is best sown in March and September.

BROCOLI, brown and white.

Should be sown the beginning of January, and

treated as cabbage sown at that time. Some observe

the practice of sowing from November until February,

but this is a vague method, and not to be depended on.

STRAWBERRIES.

March is the proper season for planting this fruit. The runners and leaves should be all cut close away before they are set, which will strengthen them greatly, and before winter they will have new leaves. If planted in clumps, the fruit will be larger than if suf- fered to run over the bed ; but by the latter method they preserve a more delicate appearance, and are certainly less likely to contract filth.

As soon as planted, a sprinkling of fresh earth

622 APPENDIX.

should be thrown over the beds, which should be plen- tifully watered twice or thrice a week, if the season turn out dry; and as the plants require much air, they should be thinned, in order to preserve a free circu- lation.

When sown in beds, the following mode of treat- ment should be observed : — When the bed is well pre- pared, plant the rows of the large kinds, such as the Chili and Carolina, two feet apart, and allow one foot be- tween each of the plants in the same row. The smaller kinds do not require so much space; eighteen inches between the rows, and eighteen between the plants, will be sufficient ; but as much greater space may be given as the ground will admit of.

In April all strawberry beds should be well dressed and cleaned, in order to prevent the lodging of insects; and in July they should be gone well over, and have their spring dressing ; in doing which the runners must be taken off from the plants, and the weeds cleared away. The ground will then also require to be loosened, and would be much benefited by a layer of fine ma- nure and fresh earth between the rows, as this treat- ment will strengthen the plants and produce the largest and finest fruit.

RASPBERRIES. Should also be dressed and cleaned in July.

GRAPES.

Begin in April to pinch and prune the vines, which must be cleaned from all cankered and unhealthy leaves or other substances, to preserve them from insects. In July they should also be gone over, and pruned and

APPENDIX.

nailed, where requisite. All walls and stakes should then be attentively examined, to prevent the harbour- ing of insects, which will otherwise destroy the young wood and fruit.

PINE APPLES.

In the management of Pinery, should gentlemen incline their attention thitherward, the following obser- vances will be useful. In May let them be unplunged, and laid down on their sides, till all their leaves be free from water. Take off all yellow leaves, and suckers, and let these suckers be plunged into fresh pots of earth, and in a fresh bed of heat, by means whereof the Pinery will always be kept full. The spider is their chief enemy, and therefore should not be permitted to harbour near them, as the smallest of the tribe will kill the crown, and destroy the fruit.

TREES OF ALL KINDS,

In JANUARY and FEBRUARY should be BUDDED. A competent judge will best inform himself of the proper time for this operation by the ripe appearance of the buds themselves. For this use the practical gardener chooses a small instrument which may be made of bone, with wrappers of worsted, which being elastic, is better than bark, or any other substitute. The tops of the budded stocks are by some left uncut until the August or September following ; but a gar- dener of much experience in the Colony makes it a rule to cut his tops off immediately, as the buds strike much sooner with this practice.

PEACHES and PLUMS are best budded upon their own stocks.

624 APPENDIX.

APRICOTS may be budded upon peach stocks.

The ENGLISH MULBERRY upon the cherry, or Cape ; and ORANGES will succeed best upon lemons; and all tender trees are better to be budded in summer than in spring.

It may be here proper to observe, for the better in- formation of those who have not given themselves the trouble of dividing the year into seasons, and which it would indeed be difficult to do by a comparison with those to which in Europe we were accustomed, that the spring months are, September, October, and No- vember : the summer months, December, January, and February; the autumn months, March, April, and May; and the winter months, June, July, aud August. Hence it is observable, that our wheat har- vesting begins in the last of the spring months, Novem- ber, and is entirely over before the end of summer.

In March, all fruit trees should be examined, and the broken or decayed limbs taken off.

In May, all fruit trees should be pruned, except evergreens, and such branches as are necessary to be taken off cut close to the tree, that the wound may heal the sooner, and thus prevent the tree from injury by rain or dew.

In May, orange trees may be safely transplanted ,, is well as in

June ; which is the general season for transplanting fruit trees : in doing which, the roots should be care- fully taken up, and planted as near to the surface as possible, taking care at the same time that the whole be covered, being first spread out like an open hand; after which the covering may be thickened with a little rich manure ; and when the hole is filled, the

APPENDIX. 525

earth about the root should be trodden gently, so as to fix the position of the plant.

June is also the best time for making layers, and planting cuttings from hardy trees.

In July, such fruit trees as were not transplanted in June should be removed, and stocks to bud and graft upon transplanted.

In August, evergreens may be transplanted, in which great care must be observed, as they are very tender ; and as their roots will not bear exposure to the sun, they must be so carefully dug round as to admit their being taken up with as large a ball of earth clinging to the root as can be done, in which exact state they always should be fresh planted.

In August, also, the nursery will require to be well gone over and cleaned, and young trees prepared for grafting. Wall fruit and shrubs must be now particu- larly attended to, in divesting them of every foul or decayed substance.

In this month, also, all gardens should be cleaned and dressed. The gardener ought to be particularly attentive in keeping off weeds and insects, as grubs frequently make their appearance at this time, which very much injure all vegetable productions.

This month also the nursery wants cleaning, and the young trees must be prepared for grafting : the weeds preparatory to which, must be cut down and destroyed, or they will afterwards give much trouble. Decayed branches should , likewise be taken from fruit trees ; and such trees as appear stunted should have the ground opened about the roots.

SEPTEMBER is a good month for grafting fruit trees, the scions intended for grafts being cut off a fortnight

626 APPENDIX.

or three weeks before, and the ends which are cut stuck in the ground until wanted for use.

Trees budded at the beginning of the year must now be cut down within about two inches of the bud ; this space above the bud being left to tie the young shoots to, to prevent their being broken off by the wind. No shoots should be suffered to grow but the eye that was budded, and all others should be rubbed off as soon as they appear.

OCTOBER.— -Young trees that were grafted in Sep- tember should now be examined, and all the young shoots broken off, but one or two, both from the grafts and stocks : — The clay must be taken off, and the ban- dages loosened. The ground between the rows of all young trees should also be kept clear of weeds, or they will deprive the trees of a great part of their nou- rishment.

Apricot and peach trees should be examined this month, and where the fruit appears to be set too thick, which will be mostly the case in prolific seasons, they must be reduced to a moderate quantity. This must nevertheless be done with care, and only such of the fruit as is proper to remain left on the tree.

In this month the garden should be cleaned all through, and walls and fruit trees well examined, to prevent insects from lodging.

In NOVEMBER such trees as were inoculated the pre- vious summer will want the young shoots tying, either to the top of the stock, or to have a stake driven in near them to tie the shoot to, that they may not be broken off by the wind. All budded and grafted trees will in November want constant attention. All shoots that do not grow from the eye of the bud, or from the

APPENDIX. 627

graft, must be taken off, that the graft or bud may receive all the nourishment the stock can afford.

In November, evergreens may be propagated by layers, from the young shoots of the summer's growth.

In December the same observance is to be attended to with respect to evergreens ; and peach trees should now be thinned of their fruit, where it appears too thick.

Observations on some particular Fruit Trees.

THE ORANGE.

In pruning, the knife should be as little used as pos- sible, if you wish them to bear. The southerly winds are very unfavourable to their growth, and parts opened by the knife admit the air, and kill the bloom. This tree is perhaps more infested by ants than any other ; and the black contracted appearance of the leaves is much attributed to this insect. From this persuasion, which is pretty general, various methods have been tried to keep them off. Human ordure laid round the boll of the tree will prevent their appearing, so long as it retains moisture, but not longer ; tar has been applied round both the trunk and branches, and only answered while moist; yet a cure, if the ant be really inimical, is certain to be found, with little trouble and without expence, in common suds from a wash- tub, in which ley has been used. This wash should be laid well about the roots in the evening, when the ants have left the tree, which will be mostly the case, and in wet weather always so, and there need be little appre- hension of their return next morning : a wroollen ban- dage, dipped in oil, will also be found a preventative to their ascending the tree. This application, whenever ants appear, will have the desired effect; but whether

5218 APPENDIX.

these insects are injurious to the tree or not, is to be doubted upon this principle, namely, that the ant, being excessively carnivorous, is instinctively led to the orange tree in quest of the eggs, exuviae, larvse, &c. of some very minute insect, whose eggs are attached to the leaves by a glutinous substance, emitted by them- selves in such quantity as to discolour the leaf, the pores of which being thus stopped, it becomes hard and tusky, and gradually closes. It seems impossi- ble that this change should be produced by the ant: for if it even attacked or destroyed the blossom, this would not affect the leaves when the tree is not in bloom ; and therefore it is rational to conclude that their changed appearance proceeds from some other cause, perhaps from some other insect, perhaps from the assaults of the weather, or some peculiarity in its soil or situation, or from a combination of these and other causes ; in exemplification whereof it is worthy to be remarked, that a gardener in the Brick-fields plant- ed a number of seeds sixteen years ago, all from the same tree; of which forty-four came up, and were all treated with equal care. None shewed fruit until about seven years since; when one produced about two- hundred oranges, and four or five others had from thirty down to ten or a dozen each. The following year the same trees were full ; and afterwards others began to bear. This very great disparity in their time of bearing, keeping in mind at the same time that the seeds were from the same tree, all sown at once, and all equally well attended to, would be sufficient to excite astonishment, were we not to make allowance for the various causes that might have tended to accelerate or retard their growth.

The gardener himself says, that the chief of the de-

APPENDIX. 529

faulters were a good deal shaded from the sun by a range of peach trees, which depriving them of a great proportion of the warmth necessary to a fruit which thrives best in the hottest climates, he considers sufficient to occasion all the difference spoken of.

THE APPLE,

Has a great enemy in a minute insect called the Co- chineal, owing more, perhaps, to its being nearly of the same colour, than from any resemblance to the -Spanish insect of that name. A gentleman who had eight trees that had for several years borne a delicious apple, had the mortification to find the whole of his trees at once infested by those insects in excessive num- ber ; after which they left off bearing, and after fail- ing in many experiments to relieve them, he came un- willingly to the resolution of cutting down the trees. These insects are of a dark red, approaching to a pur- ple, and combine in such numbers on the roots as well as branches, as to shew in protuberated clusters, exhibit- ing a downy whiteness on the surface. A gardener of the colony, who has attended a good deal to this mat- ter, affirms that a weed called the Churnwort presents a perfect remedy to the disaster ; with this weed, the roots, cleared of the earth, and the branches also, he advises to be thoroughly well rubbed.

M M

530

APPENDIX.

o

— ex

O C

g'l Si

»

g

QQ

H ti

O

PH

H

tf

ll

•CO*

O 00

•2

^°° 3

e s»s

•sS

-8 §

sT-^

VS <K

*o *&j

.°» *-

s ?

•ii

I a

-2:1

60

s a

S « S? •2 •*= fe

C8 *J O

a -5

o

P

a

O

cr.

» "

1C

0)

E

O

•^^ f^ e o .5 o ca e fac-g

Ji

^ o

« JS

E^

APPENDIX.

531

X

fa]

I

13

J5 ^ o t§

II

•S £O

c o

z®

cc **

i-111

« S -s"0

g _ o o

O G9 fi 43

O '" r5 -,

1

0) — •

P"H O

?!t

|H

8-45 £

CD — O

-S^o

J^J

«*- <- *" <S >>

f-§^

— o o t> =2 «-

n ^7 • *•«

3 2

X O

•fc S

"o-S "o -^ o	o	J	;
^j O Q^ ^^ ^~*	"^3 I^H	^>	f
rr bc^ ?H be ^ ^ 3 • >-, ^.S o O?>^ 5	a) e? * >-> o >•	'3 O	*
tt3 "S *^™' *1 ^ T. •— 13 ^	•w »T3 -4^	^*
	* n "s * ^	aT*	^»
g "x -*-» "^ 03 bfi -g	-G ^n P, Ct3 ^^ ®^	^	'3
C 2 - 55 O	S	Q	O
. cu	i en O		.
n3 . co s
5 >"~» o *s	.*• - — Z o S		'
S 0 > -	a be 4)		C
g oC			<u
?^5S -S.	3 23 be sn ;	j	2

,2 ""

bC"g

«- S

3 ?S

be

-i*1 be

«*H =

o ^

O

1=

(M

00

M M 2

632

APPENDIX.

-a I

o

•3

— •— § §

33

.

01 .

s§ au

IS

871

8:5

11

bfl

cc

hD bfl bfi

W)

— -C

>^> bfl — g j^>

3 '3 "o r^ °° '3

OO fc

§

<

s s

---

s

o

o

2 H

"» g S '

— « C* CO

APPENDIX.

533

	• £»		B
	"S 5* •5* • •§
	43 *« *t *> S		"5 •
1	4) ^H .22 ° *> |33 ti ^		en ~ >- ec cfl c . a> 2 >-> -^;
s • «	~ — i "5S -1 §	ences.	2s ^ Z > 1 P « °
	"S a	0	o "^
	« CJ ^^ s	^	it' « 1
	•*S ^ i O		,o —
	'p , CO ." 01 <U ^5 5; — — V		I 1 1
	' CJ "5 a		grt ^"H CJ
	^ O
	^ 1		__« (^ ' »£3 ^ S g -g
	53 -<i		CB B ^
«J	~		PH v^v*^ Q
• S3	"*s a
a>	"S •*!
a	•*^i c*i
V	^JO
CO	•5 I^-S
	cti *<« ^$
	<U "**a ^>	•
	Q is «	0
	* S	'"2
		4)
	s	>	^ _^
	**& -«		'5 '3 &
•	•^^ "K»		£^"> ^)JQ ^* 5j£) • 7^3
t3 12 0)	li .'§'§		'3 o '3 "c .-S O
>			• • *"j O *
	>> ., : ^ ••>		: ".'I"5 :
	'3 'fr-^		H"N
	O ^*		• • -g" S "o
	b	S3	• j>^ * o 1c £
	O °5	a	^ § S»l bi'J
	e s	1	§ J g"rt ~ 8
•
o
§	<£^		•2 5 g .2 -S -J g |
O	tn >M«-I -; c <u ,		0^ Q O D CX S «r
	n3 0 ~ "^j		• • • • \~^^\f^±. I O
	tri gpj ^^ <4>		• • • • w?
	S o"	0)	O -I
	*-to c		P^ ^ai OO
0	i! s ^ ^* o O 05	"M	"c3 13 S3 "S J2 "S *r WtfCc!'?' c OCD <u a) S3 P «- "-« 3 a
fc	't> -5 '^ *^ V^ (^M ^E	O a 0	bCbcES.^ > >b£ N N 3 W 0, «
'risoner	cd be o ~ ^ -§^ 02 N^ >, ^	1	^^ ^^ ^ U O _ f O O Jj 2. & *Z* 3 t-s i-s « Q (X EC ^
UH	^ • " <$	6
	o	Z	-H N CO •* >0 to

534

APPENDIX.

3		Jt
I5		1 1
is	te	a fe(	.
*M	V	^ e*	&	•
g	a	<^ C	a	-2
$. 11	V "a	3 g •§ 0 .2 S>5 .	a •	^ 1 -2 8 1
		B§ ^ « I		s 9) H -a3
		i o C h		^
"e "**		C- - ^ cc sj 7S		>-»
<^ ^5		R M ^		-^ •»
*"•» CO J So		•5 oj "e ^3 | H 3-1 Q <->JL^\ ^ ^		*3 <M 2 § Q ^5
^ s		• . •» fcio		.00
•s **"*		i : .o-s		s
O &}		o • «S v3		"*-* *
*** ^		C(J ^j <to		.**
_"v o		IP J 1 S
		.S
• " ^	W		•**	S~°\ &4
£! ^	t!	_S ^* L? ^**	•S	'O «
Is J i	1 >	. 03 — * .3 '•S >, a ^*'3 S '§	I	ai ^s bD ^ ^ ^
fe		^^ "3 c5 "C		MM
5 =		j o 2 ^^		0 ^
***		O go s iT		: 6
ll		aJ		• «
^ s			f	C
e -2	4)	e "g	0) Q	>> ui e O
« §"	a	S ^	1	4) '"•' £
•P ^	~	CM ***N C^	O
!!*%»		^ "~^ ^i ^ ^00 >O ^5		T3
r_^ mt^		a o o c-> '""' **3 "2		— •
^3 ^i		•— "*^ **™* f rN *^ ^ W		rt F-
				tri .*•—<
'•S "°		^j*-^i Q Q O Ja •» -w		O Sao
«c ^S		^ * J* & *T^		* ^ ~~>.
C ~* £	;' Names.	Is |l § .2 § |M -2 oQ J •«§ ^ ^ e "3 c *s e^ e	s Kames.	• J*> ^3 1 K
s	'risoneri	c "o ^ ° w «^ Q "O S ^ s a g	'risoner'	3 I" n bo ^>
i	m	E — § c >> s •§ g •% * ™ IS ** ° H <J «	ft	Z 21 H ^(^
	6		c
	K	— si oc 1	*	"~*

APPENDIX.

535

				^-	^			"o	^
				a	0 E			|	ce bfl . n
				3	ca			nj	J.i> -S
				i	4)			^	>>"s
					pQ			•~	w 0
				5*	T3			3 "S •— o	•^ °
				.z,	O O				S c3
				'£	bfl			O t- x> ca	T3 .2 g
V o				s	<2			_g ^3	33-5
a V				o S	00			1"«	0 • S ^
1				tu CJ	"S			u	'S "^
				•_	H			O B s-> o	3 ^
				^2	S *				O
									rw t^
					ca			CU O	'C .O
				0	B >- ^ 4)			C '*" c: o	S 1? 1r
								o S
	cu		75 <y	0	2 '"	^ ca		« -5 CO "•""*	ifi i
	Q		Q	tu	ca «*.	Q		H *	H Q Q
									~bfl
									.B
									"oo
								p	C
									ca
"3									3
u V								I	>-» >-> • i-i >-> >^ >-» >•
							-S		— . 22, O -^ ,±2 ii ^
		3					3		'3 '3 ^ 3 .^'3 '3 '3
	ji*	bl	j£"		_^	_w~'	b/	} -0^	bfl bfl ^ ^'^ bfl be bJ
	'3	'o	3		'3	3	"o	'3	o o '3<i>o'3ooa
	O	X	O		O	C	£	O	J^ & O^I^O^^^
					•	•	•		. bfl <u •
					•	•	> *		" S "S * *
					,	\	-		i "S g !i
									• !- . .
.					;	•	'. •		.go . .
<u u a	bfl				i_ o	Ir	1	i c	^w u : sp c ^ a> 2 * <S
i o	13				c8 <L>	1!	U		ill .8 :- 1
	<n				B	en		ca	t" J* W "*5 ^ S— i LH ^- t
	sr cu Cfi	_o Q	o 3		3	i, ^	-3 5 —	<u EL	ca^ca-c g Sso.^:
		"3			__,-	I	j		. \
		r r-^			J	*	*		3
1 £	Denham .	X 3 CO s S .2	> > 0 J "o	1	o - o Q	en	^	3 3 Q 3 cu	.§ = g 0 >> !> ™rt "t- Z2 *T3 •— S ^ C 32'3<J«a Q cu B S',J{fl •§ 'f. *~ grt ^>
	3 o 1-5	~i	3 S nj 03		0	C 'o *-B	c -G 0 *rs	CU -2 eg	J: b | s^l |jg
£	— i	N	rt		-«	«	'0	»,	00 C5 O'^'NCO^*1'^

536

APPENDIX.

i-i

I*

.

— -*

'

f

.n

S a

£.B •£

= |

§1

V

T

I? I <

«J C 2 !§

•£ <u <*S o

o S „ ^

P^ S Jf e

S g § 1

i'c g |

^ dnS S

bC

I

3

s

•8

c§

bo ^ "5 '3 fc O

o

fc

T3

1

•-,

O

T3

i

gOJ

T3

g J2

sj C

0

>r,

o o u >%-a

O 2 C « °

O

gel

J50J3J3

P5HQ3HH H

0

tf

oo

APPENDIX.

637

£)!•*»•* 1 | «r. CJ O •s fe 8- a S |-2js •« s •2FS; *i§ s~ ap.tSj 5-§a £^ 8 .«« e ^ • i> o a> o> ^IN" HI u li|*|| *•" £i M -= g & £ £> 5 J «- £P aT ^ -x &-*-*— ^^ """ O t-* ^ r> 9 2 « B.JI »H , i s*s i-SSi||l ^2g| Sg &,>«« o etf-22 »O « 5 o o g s « p,-a ^ -Q •^ ^r s^s | ^ § -_g ^-^ ojoao 3 jSfljp" ^--i •* ifii . .K** .si ObOOJ SffilSTS S •*' * "S *J *Q aillt'i-lll-^ili^ |t|fli||lf |*l'f|	tfJ li as o ^ PH ,& "S e3 ja O *f a;^ •5 <o -Q 5 2 t c-'i CD *H *i y*Il * ^ "2 * •*Jr, tC -CB
i ; : ! ! ii i
£>>> • • &>? >> '3 '3 >, >, "3 '3 *- '3 "o "o '3 '3 "o "o O	'3 ^ o
en . • . o ! ! ! o bC • • *	en l- O C bJD 3 C en .

05

C C

ca o

j_ o

Otf

C*i Ctj

OO

O OO tf

^

c

S • 1 « •

r , s *. «-!.£-

s j .j ^ > : j

^7-K^H S."=3-C

ts-<l H

s

O

C ^

.2 ^ "^-^ £

C8

V

M

cS

6

c

03

Q

cd o

oo Oi

(N (N

!O CO O5 CO

rc

oc

CO

638

APPENDIX.

•si

•« c « •->

4fe

•^ s

"^ s

•^ .s

						•« ,0'E-S "c
	J					o-^ &BC «s 5 =^> o o
	g					^ C o C •• • *^ a o * o -^
	s					i>-» ' ^ — , ^
	tM					»0 CC 85 « 5J «
						**i "S o «2 ®
	£;					<— i — e «- o cj
	<~					o o •- s ^* «3 O S t*,
«*	-2					fcl) °C £ '£ 3 0
c	CD					'*3 •/ c J3 4) £
•	0					t^j •»•> 4) aj ,^ 3
I	£	.				03 _ ^2 ^ « QI C3 » ._H r^ (ii	T3
	£ rt u o ,0 _« •a Is	eath. — Executed	1 V O-, o> tf rx^-> 2 2	8 m III	•o V u V X •£ 6	(u .22 -8 S '« C 'HH *" -C S cu * .e | J * £ .^ 5 .. *. 3 JL^^O B ^ C) ^ S a) ., S bJ5 e o- g « c B p o o g 's o !•	O) .2 ' tn 0) 1 "5 4J	itto. — Executed.
	W	C	QQ	QQQ	QQ	-V ao O N ^S -C	Q	Q
		^	T^		. .
				'. I '.	; ;
"o				m ' •	•
E			|.	'Boo	^^ O		£	o
	— •		5	~SJ ."ti	* s "^	-^	'3	*
	*5 o	r>	^A.^	h°QQ f^ <**~f*~	OQ rx^v-^>	'5 o	o	Q — •* ,
		3	aj !	I	ee § 1	;	0	£
		•^		•	-o >• |	^	"^	-*—
		^j		.	s	u,	«r	•M Q
		• —	rx T^J	.^	.'S ^~"C	ft)	&*•
		^H	F c	o	G ^ 25	^^	Q	V
V a *b	>- o o	0 0	•J C3	1 S	iJH	•X3	CJ p	S ex,
0		>~	"c	rt	^» *j "c	ce	— J	o
	•— i M	u	•« ce	— bC	~ ^- "^		fcfi
	13	_£3	ce s	13 =	j3 5^ g	3		s. -
	e3		o .2	C '•— CS 03	bO^ u>		"3	^ 2
	O	~	KQ	t- _OJ	MKQ	J	4)
	•	r+	^A-X"'		^-^^^x^	y	1	_j._ — (
	•			• . .			"3;	u5
			. *	; ^ c	. -a		X	X
	;£	t	^* Q	t^ •* C	• c		*^">	C^
•/. V a	i	Z c	ee S o U	0* HH	a> cj •S P ,S§	0 0	u
	0	u	HI	a> "S "o	^H e c	S) c	J '	*• T^
	«	^	'j "-	r^ "crt C	— -=	_c	O f	' "^ .^™
	Jg	c^	O "^	- ^H ' ^*	0 0	0	V^ (	J o3 ^3
	"-a	—	•"S T^	~- **; t^	"-8^	•^	OS	ib
o
2	••"	r'	f5 *•	'ft & »-	r. T.	^	—^	Q

APPENDIX.

539

cT ! V *		V ' -S 1 i kj	•2 «"S ^2 SB I * ip"5 E (J1 e «— -S =1^2 « "S-S3 a a; o «J JI	1
o		«2 o	O > CS _, c S as S ** a |
a 0			i i s i ^
«3		o	° § ^ ^ O 'O	CO
H S'		M	«2 g b|l o	C8 O) >-»
s >» 1	•d	si 1 ,-l	5 £ « ^^ ^ §	3
	S*	e c .2 3s	GJ '~H rti C6 crt	4)
en 3 °C	• s	0 (U E 3 •-	i . —^ O Ji; CJ ^3	en
*"* " *"* P* t	0 0	Si	f O -rX 03 *5 55 ** *^
^>J" 0H	*3 <u 5 w 1	t — ' -- •-• S.* 1 fs		-.2 £•
4> w 1.		CO « I		o
		c a ,4 '.
•£•50 -5 l-a I 1	3 3 Q 5	Cd >:- 'Z! 0 C F*< 9j ed ~ ^M *"" O) .ti .t ^^^A^x-\ Q DC	5QlSH^^ S	S •*..*
			ii ; i ;
33°	o o	_o o o o c	2 S : >•>
5 ' J5 .*sfl	"S ."S	."S 'S ** *^ *	i-S 5 -S 5
Q Q Q	Q Q t-	Q Q Q QC — i / * —	^Q .IS 3 .t — ; Q o c
sf -«	g	u> ^•s	•
S *••	5		_
3
		.C B "£
S	^^	<u -j- 5	•
<u ° -GO 0	M	§ a eu £ o> o >•" -l-> Ui	*
	d	M a.	>*
• 1— 1	Q	-~, --^~, 41 c	V
•r -S w ~ £ c	O)	"3 O) ~ ^3 ^ 3 fi 3 *- C .2 § .2 -A	o J t.
	p^	C M S S ^^	>i 3 C
Or* rtl		O <u O !> o	5S 'C? -S
02 ^ c»	CL,	"^j »^G "^3 ® j ^	<U <U »"»•• Cu & C
to ' to | 'So * ^	• -a • -3 . N . <N	• -a * ^3 • TS • • <M .CO * CO •	• • • * * * • * * *
* • J : ° '• fc	• :«":*	4) ^» ^* . • -^ • t-i • C '
3*1 '• s : ss s .3 :a :w	• "« • g	• 1 : fe :-i : , • j • CQ • • i	a i* fe 8 S :_§ ^ > C 3 -5 >. -r	•
1iJ^*^| _^ o c o o 3 2	'^'^ -"-N 2 3 -r 3 Js	^ o A'S X-g^,C	^ H a j 5D C B C "~
.2 -"S 4> .tS £i •tS o	.~S -3 ."S 2	."S a> -IS <J ."S ~" •'S •	3 J3 pG _C • -
S^H^H^cS	TS^TSJg	^S^tf^^^a	2 0 0 0 J> •( ^8 ^ *"8 »>

SO »•• 00 O5 O

640

APPENDIX.

'•s §

o ^

O c

5-5

~ .~ o ••

QQ H '

• II

— «T^

tf Q

"53 ta -a o ^^ <u

-s •£.

o

— *•'

l.a

. « o

QQ

V

T

g

'

: : >>

oo *; o o °" QQ OQQ^i -i-S .g QO

Q Q

APPENDIX.

541

1

1!		iff	^ i § B
— o>		•— < *5 .°	S -5s .
£8		^32	o S-fj
CW		3^ g?	I rf «l
V en ^^ i s		^ «.2 O T3 « > °	£S s •*!5i
^ &1 *• «		•S'S'S	in«§
«s.s		>-a ^ ^"" T3	s r a
e ^		^2 -° *^ 0>	§^ Si
.2 -2 "S «	-a	W3^ § 1	-olS «-^ "S 2 § § § S	T3
— -S g- c' OH O •« 2S -w o § 13 &	a> 60 9 •§ 233 35 -w ••-> *J	1 e3 fl"S 1 g ^o§	r o X o es S ^^2 bg K-i u H J» S 42^ $£< — 1 *J S3 M -l->	• fcn S -I
£ ^^	5 Sob	£ * « ce	•— ; o js o cs •< c/5 ac	Q

0

p

&

si

						•
3 C	5 C		c r	' c	> c	c	) js	•%

S *- Q

{ receiving

""" o bD >, f 1 a S-, Q^ O » g. >> <u =

y receiving

"° Is "^ .* i> * <s '§ ^^ ; D g £ * a JBS. o I B fi ,e * 1-rj « _ 3 03 "^ •£ S £» • s °D .<y o ** 03 t_i * — tr ^2 "*^

<u t)

.2

Feloniousl the same

«j -±3 > to a) x

3 o p a s

.2 fej5.2 3.2

e «2 u a « s

O •- 0) O 0) ^O

"3 Ja -5 o -S « fa fa fa

S3 2 •

ItT.

S«fi-g

<1J 3

* -5 S

augh

O Q

^3 OO

*O ?O t^* 00 O* ^D ^~*

CO CO CO CO CO ^* ^*

CM CO

542

APPENDIX.

	• o	\
	_*)
	.S J"
	.s I
	<o
^	<u „
g	fl 3 ^3
I	if, 5 .ggs 1	it 3 % * S
	>-, ea oJ	5 ^
	"""• ^^ ''^ (	> J.J
	aj C Q	> ^<
	• (-* •*-' &> >	< ^ i
	1? > _ g & bfi WO."	5 -g* & S "S
s 3	<n oj (U fli ti/) b** ^ •§ o _o ja en "u o ">> &	«S ^ j CD •<2
	5 Q Q H *- ^ C	i ^
o	3 "®
f	S & J2 3 .	/-\
«*r -5	"o — •"	• a>
•« H	& & a w	aT'-2 Cn
%> o>	• ^ •— ^	w 00 • —
"w >		^P pvH ^2
£	Z 2 3 ^ >-- « s	r> ° ^
it	.±	en d>
S	|Zi Q Q ^^	1 -_ _^
s	1 y^ — ' v.^"Y"^y C.	5 g1^
c	05 j! J -S ^ .-i -g g» •^^ o 08 ».**» ^ aj .— bn-^ t;co '| £ _. c • <u Q; •* ja .5 •? i, <> «• ^72 «s g^»e * ^ w "8>	O • O -*j § ^- « ^ r, ^3 bD o •«
b a	8 15 C M <u rg *o	= ^ e S s ^
5- •= *j U	"" J2 'S "»	^^ ^»
	3 o "S Jff-c c 2 - 2 •g 1 1 S S ^ £PS§ '« ^is-s-es gz$ i	~ ^^(^j £ $ ^ S 5 "4 0 ^
	> ^ 1 i y,. .-/'O	-s
	rr-T o ** m ' ' _« t§ ^'	9
	.0 H _, g ^^ ^"3	eg ^|
• s •	^S - § W) en" = .2 r 's o . > o-2g ^3 5 -S &» .S J>,S'~i- /««i xjC-p Q il>CC-ge8 H Ji «> .Jj	^ ai.l3 t O Q^
Jj^		a>
	SS be .5 S ^CQ ^1 S a .2 ^^ .2 So ep on J^ t5	^ 2 ^ r j fcJ3
	ornS_§ea ^jSESJjo^	(0
		O
O
%	*^ ^o t» ao co O ~*

APPENDIX.

543

	gj	1	o if CC •— '	e8 O ***
				^ ^r ^J
	Li ££	fr e	3 .0	? --.s
		•g	S3	&
	"=• *	</?	_4>	<-> Q —
	* S	^	™ "a?	.0 "" 5 -a
	s •?	R3		"*^ 0^*0	\
	. — £• !"«	bo 3 be	— • 3J	bo o 'S eS c c -^ S * N •-
4) O	•-P-		^>^H	-A *S *S ^3
a		~o	y- ^_,	§ So g £^
o "a	§ *	bo	v>-a	bO S P _ 5 B c
V	,_ ,	0) X	"S u	^ *" .2 OT
	0^ §	c .	& °	^ ee ^ .^
	^ bfi	. — a;	. _ *^	• ^- 5? <D
		u ~	•^ i	tj — r II ^™
	^ cr	-o g "S	"O ^	3 C t. g	T3
					V
	^* a5	be "S g	bfi ^"S	"° *" -2 >	be
	S "^	CB —	ts "3 5 o	• — . S > £	•
	_ . -^— —	r~ _- ^	, r" . -~ ™* j	- T^ *^j ^	-c
	^ 5	5 a"5	03 e .a -3 o 5 Qa- w '	i t- «5 ^ ^ H3 J cd S o S S ^"T"4 <^ r . >° » hM t^ r™	g Q
	5
	To
	3 "w
o -3	OS a
&• 9		>-,	>i •	. . .	2,
^	*o	— •	•^ •	• • •	^s
		3 ^	'5 ^	-^^ .^	'3
	+5"	be S*		&& jj*	be
	•3	"o '3	"S '3	'3 '3 '3	"o
	3	fc 0	fc 0	OO O
	•
	•
	*
		*	* •	• £> o>
	o	>-»		' Jjs rt
«£	-T3	>^	s» ^>	r-^5 Ji	bo
°c	M 1	2 |	S V OS I—	| 2 -g	"5
u	1	_§ 1 •«	bo — _e ^	-2 CO T3 S -=	-2 'r
		^
	r^A^x-	O * rxJv-x-N O	w O	eS b/> * Offi ^	B O)
					*
	2	. g			I
	be	~ 1	j •	• • t» •	j
£ s «S 55	* si C	§ -o * -2 ^•^ cd ^^ ^^	5 4) >» e8 K	e a; ^ to CL, Jj O 2 U5	CO o> >
	•0* _O.	^ S "o	*Z, "3 ^1 cd	O H S X « .*	V Q
	o ~ •5 £	2 E 5 6 3 fa	e -c ^3 _g	si S ctj cd „**•	M o 1-9
o
fc	-1 *»	W V «0	«5 ^	00 O* O	^3 »

544

APPENDIX.

1

c o

f

35 Q Q Q

O

000.-= —

O

O

»\

•S

i*-? 1 .3 .IP

cfi

P5

•22 S-'0 -2 .22 fe g

So .2.2

jhi

e-aJe

KM a

^

"o

"

I

i

i

A

r» eo^*M>50 i^ oooio -j

APPENDIX.

545

Jif

•£ j> »

£

OB <U

'b^ C

~ o

hfl

CO

QQ

oth

Remand

C *^

O C

co e a,

r5 B =

*§ — o

Ed _>;

'111

c

Q Q

-w" bJD

b£

fcJD

3 "S 3 fc	* ^	O ^^-^!	» ("vX^	"3 0	^^ 0	"3 O	'3 O
05 § bfi a C	) :	S S O fc« JB "^ cc C-_i	nsly receiv- ; same ....	flj	O) ' ^ •§ v LH	B 1	g o> ei

-d

CO

O

e e

CO O

> S §•«

•S3

X Ui

'e °*

c-§

o .J8

QC«

n3 "S o -d ^

p5§|

S Q

cO

"d >-, o> c Jo Ja

CO M —

01 — •-=

S ~ rs

o JT

tf £

S o S

•SSI

W " *

.a co s .a

Ruff

R

00 OS (M

O

CO 03

* S3

N N

>^ «5 »^- 00

CO CO CO CO

re

546

APPENDIX.

O

0

T

O

*••

-

^

is

=

--r I

ir

i* *&

O u

-

O

O

O

O

o fc

O

Ijl 5 a

i

°

•

11

1

.

a

APPENDIX.

547

C <U

as e "a

"o CO

M

§1

££•32

bJQ

G

-a § S

G tn C -G c> £3 <D *•*

|J> S g

OJ "~* W „ ">

III! «

3 t"9

&0

O P "M g °u _<-!

_;£.' — _( "^

Q Q

I , 20	&	' & '	^	3 M
	o	•g	|	~Q
r		O		^
O	"J5		6
•g	3		CH
|	3
C	c *		T:
-G		. >» .	fciD oo b, -.	C
'£	G cd	s O	«2 'o	V £
>-> ^ 11 > % !•<!	. commit nrimA -	-2 r «J ! 0	bD >• .5 | o> 8 S S	oj >— -1 "3, w" •S 8-2 r/? jg K. ^ ^ •
				O TJ« •-S •—<
i	•	* •	•	"S 00 "1

•TS *""'

J*

e &

II

«9 CO '

I fe

.•73 T3 cd

'g o

3

8

^j

.

r. V ."•>->

V-'S

co "^

§

•s

o

•-5 s

oi " ^ O at •— i '*-'

N N 2

548

APPENDIX.

T3

I

u

f

	c «.« o	>^ 0 "S	~a	"S	a			5	3 **	A
	« _ x <•=«	C) ^*^ . ^""	p		B			+J	o	C
Sentence.	Publicly whipped (100 lashes,) confinem in a solitary cell, in His Majesty's gaol Parramatta, on bread and water for months, and hard labour at Newcastle three years.	C! <U ^ T» ^ ^ rS ° "5 faJD 0 c rt RJ Co tiC (-1 ^^ C OJ O ' ** cd ^, ^, — p=~* 5 ^ .2 •-o HH Q j(3 c -2 • -H cd •" -d ~ JS a) -3 •t: i o 2 o en ^5 a • ^ ^^ *^	'u ';!! C- = !_ 0 0 T: 0 r3 C rt 3 CU cT ^S	superintendent of Government-works, i	employed in the service of Governm for three years.	t	Same sentence as No. 3.	• 5 § OH as "^) o £ 5 "o en 03 C «j 1 B H* *-H	cc •— ' J3 05 -5 -S & c ««» > ^ :1	for seven years. Imprisoned in His Majesty's gaol at Par matta for six months.
•o								«
	|»		.1*				'3		'3	'3
	O		0				O		O	O
	^ ea w		•
	3 b-2	'	•
B .§	.S c ^ CO 4^		I1 0				§ o		i	c B o
i	•J I"5						«		^rt	1
	03 o 0		*— «				^^
	.2 -c **		F—				r— ;		r—	r^
	03 bU co co		fl				C		e	B
	»- c *> O						~
			u.				—		E	E
	[i, -^ u "^		0				O		O	O
							CO
			•			2	'E			I
			«				c
			-2			"o f cn	p			t
									en	c
a a	a		|S			's	1		'3	'i
*			"*			s	"S i	J>	5	--
	^•j		s			..•"?	" 1	-	m	CO
	e o		_ctf ^			1	e CD C	s \	^ i J2	i O H
9
*	N		r?			**			WS	50 .

APPENDIX.

549

JS-S

= (8-0

o _ a

. BJ!

?- i

_2 «- g

"^ ^

ill

c _~

•S ee.2

0*3 > 5? •- i - m o .

J? «- *>o h-1 S J? *- £

g •«-> I-* W O <S ^ £

t) - «-<n c c. § §

"" S 1 ">

— , -^ »• aj

4) "O *- S

O C "j •£•

S ~ CO —

-i -3

xa ^ as

O *- 41 3

4.

•/. cs o~

*,£ O

® ~ "r-	O *" e fe on *~	S cS S	' ' u ^ S	c ~o;cc!t<c<s''"'	V
^O * 1 C 'S ^	^3 '— i S «2 -c 2 « ^ n . £, £ ~ ^3 S s g £	L»lj	eo C» A__.._ oS~~ -5 ^3 "S C3	M "i -M S 0 « 5 4, C8 ^ .- £«S «> fc. S)|£S-««-®	0> o '?
O C C	r~ *^ *^ ^ o *	Q Q^ i"j •*":'	CS CJ 0)	S ^ ^ ~" ~" ^ O ®	o
H **	O M ""	, ~" • — - CS Co	^Q Q	O ^-'3^<-'-S	•
	^>
	'Sb
	-2
	"^
	G
	•
	j
	*4^ O
_^»	£»	IN	>> _>»	^.
"5	'3	'a	'"S ^	"5
g	0	O	O O
	*> .	TG	°8 I	-T.2
	t. >		-3 :	-§S
	2 o £ £	"3 i	"o cej :	4) O C .
	_ o	•	fc« ? J2	O cJ
	f ^ P^J	i	'S nj g
t	4) ^	eu I.f £.§	h.i 4j C3 _J8 . rC ^ S •	^ O "So
?p	F"H		O K^"	a; CO
. 3 cq	fe «*< r° ° Uj	t£ g	1^ ^	c®-^
•	nO ^	•	cT.i-O •	1
.2	§e	_>> C	^^ C • 2 f5 5 • ^^ § •' — • CJ •- . 3 = -= ° 15 bfl	? ^ 2f. 8 w
«-	^ ^	CO	hj o ^ ^j	C * c *"O ^^
o	A *~"	g	03 0 S	^Q O> C8 t-i
jg	u	^	03 k~ 3
j	•§ cs 'aT £ — -—i 6W ?	0! 3 Q	"^ ^ — ' S « "3 5 jj ^^ ^ — •< § o^<1	fe"J.2 - S* „- g O I-,
H	00 3J	0	^	n «* »--5

550

APPENDIX.

•S * -S

2

1 a

c3

-=;

v

T

o K

bfl "o

d

O

o

^"» ^>

"3 '3 O O

^

s

8-3

~ ° .5 o

G > 'Co

s

EE.

^

^8 "bfl

3

Cfc

l*

>N -a ~ X % £

a a

o o

Q

o

N

-« (M

APPKNDIX.

561

« -

•3 § J5r | 8 •« t

= 73 U. .2 .<£ = .0

*• a *•• o. >* * t<-1 o a z <e a. „ n)

iE

<M

o fc

- . -

Bj „ O 00 T3 5

<u o PC -s C >*< B S S- S

O a g *- c8 5

£ « *P

M « C . « CS 13 4) CJ -*V

S-«f £M o £ fc*-o -g

g § 8 S S,	— » = - -' c .-.«>» g	0 C i C 5 C	?j § 5QC	3 CS > CU 1 Q	.2 5 0 &	j-g c ; < i <y C - O	^31
*					A
j&	£		->S)i	2	u i	" £
'3	'^	'5	"c '=	o	"o "E	-t:
O	C	c	jz; o	Q	-2j rh	C
i	.i	S	,j	"2 E
V ex	W ''	.2	vi	5.5	CU ri
		^	^3	*"•"* rr^	"° c&
"P-.	o	L>	£	s L>	w ^C
o	Ul I. cu a. T3 =		o b	^^	^|.=	Q
o		fj_.	^S •"•	fj_, ^o	f| l »-^
cU	1^ ^^ r-	o t^	b|	°i 2	o is £ 5 - u.

cc

O i,"

if ^|.	jj-o-3 »	||34	: "0 t 5 % « > ^ i-	1 1	1
•	6 oj !	•		•
i i	°l ;	>>		I	1 |
	& -^~ •	^*		c
	" — &H •	o		03
a fe	c •	Ei)		_>	H3
1	4) • Q-n C j^ri	^ -2	03 ce	"3	0 O fc
M ^ 02	'S £ »	"o ^	H	.2	cS
S 1 S H	-S II H CW	B i|	S 03 »-a	cu >-s	. O CO te
co -^	M»	S £	00	OS N	o CO

552

APPENDIX.

I I

»

<» "i 7S.cs

s "o

•

.s •*•» 'S o

X,

	£	1		£	o	£.o-|
	1	83				^ be be
		1		£-.	J>	co1! SP
	O	O		o		*« be 2
	E	^»*		n	^^	,_*_, ^^
	•5 j£	rt	E	C -•S	_O	"S § >>
	fc "S	b	B	M	n	o ,5
	tP O	9	*^	^O	'-^-«	C(3 ^a* *"*
	^~* c	O
	CP «		<y	_	Co	C^ C flj
		03	O	; ^~	^j	i .-, ™*
8 s	S2 ,. ce		3	en 03	03 S	_| >««
B	p	LI				«- o
a	!f J>	J:: en	o	•;	E E	• .« 5
*	£U ^*« fa be	1 1	bn	^	efl "r PH j	j 2 c o
	o) &*n H ^JJ Oj	(!) gj	o3 be	Is	"S |	5 ~ .~ *-
	*-> . —-. O 3 T3 0 >•	S ^	"3^3 -d	3	3 S	^ r- fQ T3 <.S 0 C
	° OJ C8 _		ee 4) o>	o
	-2 b£ be ° cS (- < — a >->«	c - cu •— en o	be be be >-> 5 cj	3	^s J$' •	"S P e
	•H-f c o EOcio'5	1 W	f J3 C 0 F^ en en	a	t-, 5? c R3 J fl W T	t > 03 CO
		g	:		:	cS •M
			j		.	.S
w		-3	s		,	"3
1		O	•		•
*"	^'1 ^sl	9	^ S3	.I	^ .	•s
	'3 o '5 '3	'3 O	3 "S O O>3r br /--< f^	o	o c	' '3 3 O
	•	Ji ro 6 O "*^	"5 5 cS	en -b	• C . C en :	i :j
	E	S^%	<u •« .	9	o q	5 — "?
	6	t! o5	O ^T1	P^		03 ^.
	c		tii o S
Su	-2	^ "" '2	o> B a	i ^5	O (	3 w "3
r	T3	g		J ^^	be *5	1 *^* **
jg	C •	nj "2 03	en ^ 4, O -^> .S	"S	•— f- ,° 44.	O T3
U		>! 5 0-	'£- S ~	^	t	3 ^ ctf
	of	t. — en" «	Cj A ^*^ o tn ° O X ec *g	J	-lc s	- fc£ a
	^15^ o c o			be	h ^	j ^_-^ •
	s .S .^ .^	~J O cS	S 1 1 - "i	—	«D 1	3 S O
	cc Q Q Q	a ™ ~"	"° •< ^ £ c	' CQ	§ i	5 CC "
	. . . .	v-^Y^	^ '^T' :	^0-	'•	• :
I I	Richard Edsall . . . Michael Duggin . James Ansell . . . Charles M'Mahon.	Thomas Donovan. Thomas Kenan . . .	c . c o .'a? o> aj cu ? ^ •»- > ~ C2 ys 4; .2 oS ii	Robert Thomas. . . John Neale	Catherine Connor.	r William Thomson,
|	-,NW«.	W	t* 00 05	2^	£ t	) -f

APPENDIX,

553

fjs

£ o

>

<U nS

3 J

~ -w w

a ~

£ <u

o a

*T3 O

O »i T

.s oa -A

Q „ §•

3 3

oo

*j « OS

o o ^

QJD C _4»

c « .-S

O ^> V £ l£

»«

sS

CO

e co — S

a .5 •£ §

^£^"a ^» ^-—

£§^li CL

WJ ^

o *

&

o

1 ^

I!

2 ,S

II 35

•2 •

ETS O

&£ £

T3 4) (5. -I r" l^<

O

O

3 'S

cr cs

JO

S o

•s^ §&

c6 „

» ja^ -e S

o '"™ ° '"£* 2

c ^ « ^ **•"

"c ^ "3 *> ^*

<u feu >• b/l'-S

- ' £B

cp

a

5

s -e

— oj «s rz _N

£J

a i

654

APPENDIX.

«!M ^ "=

0 e§ S

CO CO

bJS £ -s i'rjS

Q -5-^2

. CO fcO*' en

.

§-2

-a « fap

C > G co

03 '

be _• -

.Ira § s.s-g g-s

^ S^-3-^cc |-|

3 0) c -^ O> "

*-*

u 2

<2 «

>

^

c§

.o

a i- -c rs _,

p-^J c * ^^ ^ "*^ 3

* o 13 > '

^ c o o

,

2 T3

?3 .S PH 13

'T3o°

•

5 S f «^^3

'i S-g's-g § §

T3 S -0 -« |

o rss <u S fen

a 1

O

.

*

.

-5&|j

c e ^--o

^o i -11 S/S

.S Ug-g5^?

-s Mlil

°

° - =

-§ '3 .4*

I ill

2 "So

c o

X Oi O

APPENDIX.

555

§2 «

J d ^

CA O t*

•5 :43 *>

Js !-s

a>

^SfS

>>3

1 x

o t-,

.-. <i>

3.>

"bfl^

3 d

-<=•£

S3

«J -S

S-^ g o

|§

eu'-n

^ a*

4J W

I-

d •*- o «

°-2 b§ _g

— -^ GJ

o u

cc 2J

W

'SJ^IJ

« ~ ^r* d «"

^rtyf

s^o^ § •1 1^1 S3^

§ * o H ^ £

2-3-2 I ;

,j- ai « •• .S •?^Hl

ll^ll! Kf*i|

g.so ^^

.3.2

o ,-

•S.s

s w

fi « I

a ^

X

B3

s

S

c3

bfl

.__ o>

_0

O

3 S

•s i*

s I

<D J3

p oT

s g ftf-

o

I §^

_

U

I

2

.§

i

•^ t^

S ^'3 « O

' -a -d ~ -^ a

r4 — ' ~*L ^

3.S..1 ..

fecrS"3 « .S J° ° S •S^-jS-a

d be

^J I § >^<<3 bfl

— ' "^ -ll

3 cc"^; 2 .g-f lie .

O O r^ <D t« f £ I « ^

•"S > a; 'rt t*" '

"f^l-3^-

vri <D ZJ m OJJ^j CS c(J •

d d «j o

i'-^ *> C fe ce cc « 5

3 t*- *f

on ca ^ :

-d

04

"O

^ -=; ry z?

S ee

.2 >> /3

d c ^

.0 S '3

o

So .g..e

2 ~S S" 25

P^ ^ ' C <B

tH OJ J3 en

^^ K^ ^3 «3

5 -3

d .§ S _o ca t.

flS.3

bC g C O

5 sQ

o 1

.§1

,c»

4, ._—

I '

If

O O ^

<u be

> d

O •""

o.|

be aj

.S 0)

"cS 3

.

-a feo

<u =

b£— l- (S rt oj

g

a b

O

1 | .11

o

a

mas H

d §

.9 ^

2 — 2 ^o

GJ L O ' "^ 1^' O

ta >• rt

i-s

o William Thomas I

CO l» 00 O5 O CQ W M (M C*0

556

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

557

•o		1= 3					£i	i	— •'^ 0^
00		.~ o					^ Irt	t«	&«
		tT S					^^	PH	r*1
-1		~tj en ea •-					-_ ~	CO a •	~ ~ il
		"" **					"*Xx ^		B —
		•§ S						-:	-1
Ci		t^					-S	™	- otf
r^<		""^					o3 o	CO	cd
^2		o v						?	- bo
^*		kCl "*"*					—	CJ	c
^J		QU					T3	2	c ca
co		- » <D 03 .					§ ~a	*3	•- §3
^	V	S _. j7	i				la ^	_j	"c "o	•
	•
-S	o V	^^ > »•<					u *"	sS .	S bj-	2
K		«— i eS B							CU C
ft	$	° 0					g*	gfa	c •- ys t^	B
S to		|s o					"c "o OJ -	M^	11	1
1 1		S bo « g.S-5					P b£ 01 c3 C *-	il	||	0 B
.Jp ^J		o ^ ^^					^C jjj	"o ^	S "^	D
***" **"		cd ^"	i				— jj	* ^		~^_^
•> i		— G> ^					o r^		CO r- u i. ctf c8	a
^ feuQ		*" §" **					>-» j-	• S o	0> a;	o
P		* b o « w « § g	-B a V Q		"5 B Q		|.=	•«J 3 a 0 .0	O O> fe c H ° l	•E D
"^ -S		2 .S	bD <u		CO		"o-S	•	o e
			C *•"		3				•— • —
^ "^		c •§			tf		^T1^	I	^^
flJJJ		o -=	^ 1		A		o> .		CJ • i-+
					gj				"~ ^
V to"1		en bo	^^ cd o		1		|if	I
is	o	— -G	•5 «S *c£ |p .S ^ -S		CO w . C3 Q			1L	O ^ a 4J o c	0
**• "••i 0 £	a & O	|||	£ £*S S &" K. «- >> i^% jg — ^		0) 2 CO		||	||	i g —	1
Sa\ •«« **		'-§ J?> *	1*1 2 «*-< •" S o g		bD		03 J	o	«S eg "5
^ ^^			«3 4,^		• —		bo'c	4ri	bO ^
«*		|ll	"bO S ^2 S 2 s CQ '"		1-1 rj CO		c c i= *	G 3 ."s	i*i
c i £		Ijlj	o bo P -J3 3 BPa	=!c c "ra	a3 ^ cd T3 U		CO -I r£> "<	S ) 4	i
isoners '.	o a m	GO' 3 -3 £ 1 S : "3 cc W . O ^-3	9^ ^ ce <u fe	^ 0 S	-SJ « "S °° g'i i|	it "3	'X -^ e	2 1	§ CO
i* Ai > g		i^5 *1	ilia _*?"«•* £ SU^	_"o 'S CS Q	E ° S — r j3 _«U "S '3	^ o 3	< Jl "^	| j	£
s	i
	o
*		'•^ W ^0 ^*	«»	cc			t» a	3 OJ	o

558

APPENDIX.

					*^ be		-a
			CO		"3 c		•
			•*-»		Oj CS		&
					be &>fi		o
			s				S
			03		5 "o
			to
			3 eu e o	c<3 a>	03 be l.s	"o 0$	"3 S3 bB.Sn
			C8 *3	^>	to CC ^	be	to
			be -2	C		*-H	2
			§ S	V	o	0	a ~
			&£<	to	.2 «5	C	2 *J
			— i S3	9		a>	to CO
			O tS	f O	« -a		to 03
	•		at S	M-«	C to	• F^	cS
	B		bn^	to	o cc	^J
	V <M	O*	C to •"" aj	<l)	S "^	.2	.21
			to <W
H3	4) OS	' o K a P	» >> I;|	t Newcast	o o	onfinemeni	frl !§i 1 i§^ 0*9 o > .S,
.2		J	co cS	03	'o |5	o	° « «*H
"S 8		CO 'S p	y	S . s	l|	a G	|||
				0,
I		w*	CO *	C	^^ ^	at	O co ^
i 4		0> eS 03		•g J	aj-g o	'to H	a -3 3 HH §
•		Sr.fcflg'	2'J	U O •5 •S	^"o :	CJ .	«* •
isoners Tri		carrying aw ne barrow p ert Lowe, E	P. O) '" •5 . <u « o	<n S O> O 1^ «S be «*- .2	to .	af • £o 51 ^«	§"t ^o tfl
i t5>	Oflfence	-O O -Q a-gS bD * til .2 »• °	co i; cd S v 01 r ^ O V "4B V«J	1*^	.fl|	*"2 s| o .2 1^	11 14
s •2		'i'lSIr	to O O * "T	£>tr^	^\ (3	O CM 88 ^	o ^ *J
«!		tiC * O	— — V	_d « cS	.2 ^O	f?	1-s
		cd ~j dJ -2 §•£		1 1,02	"cS L* 4) a" > t-|	| |^	I'S
		02	02 __<_	02	02 **	02	O2
					CD	•	J
		rt			1	*	o
	i	,0 .2	B	"to* to"	"rt	^	i
	I	i-Q t- v o3	4*	.2 «	-a aS		CO fe
		[> ^<	"a3	OH	o	J3J	to
		II	1 OS	oc£	1	1	s ^5 o
	o
		«2	CO	Si2	s	s	00

APPENDIX.

559

cd S g 03

OH

bfl

-w *>

s-

SS

fcfl ..

I

I

™ WJ W

§•€«

h 03 =2

s * *c

c »- PI

I-

I

- too o

wo barrow , the proper

bfl O J2

.B M -P

a 5 O £

S S 03

— .„

cS oj O

<» <u 3 T3

bfl

bfi O

8 O

'- a)

3.2

§=fl

cc

t«

I

« S

J

o

8 1

APPENDIX.

•"» V.

=£ a.

E "« "«

1*1

^

" S to • "S

,o c 0 2 -2

S ."«

.

e ** c 5»^s "e .

"

~5 '%•

_ o

I- O

o r

e.%

^S -5 at os

. — a s • —

Q H

— 2 '3 -ti

O Q

$>

o

Q O

b£

o fc

*

I -f *

$ £"= s ^ ca o

. *r — en

-='3

. . .

00

v 9t'S a P^

i J i 7-

W) ^ .-^ =-

" j ** CS r- GO

a

H»

0.

a,

o

1-8

o

Hj

2 "o

'£

APPENDIX.

561

		2* .._, 3 s- c ce o -a oS x 2 2 & ~ £	.=	_-	s	i ^*	~	g
		^3o-t->CO*3 .2
		«T In HJ S£ £* G O ,/T _2j O 3 O fl * £ a> a5 °-S * C3 ;5 ,-« ^ "5 8 ,0 jo ^ ^ "2 >; § ~" 3 >-> 0> <n Sg ^" ^ o^--§-5-2^2 o	V5 « B t/D O 2	1 rt -o 3	Governor	O •3 5 o b ed	f\ GJ 1 -3 C	M .2 -2 1 o ^	4
		« ll |*K|3 "«	3 en £ « CB ^^-o-o -« -a >>x *	<u S5 o	-
		|>s S-lj i| 1	V •	-c o —	a O	_C	0 Vi XI	T3
1	Acquitted.	(K -H W &-.Q	a r/T o J	en "^3 0 O W -^t -A re —	Is -I s-S	<u 1 en § £	-53 2 '3 ^ o -1^	2
•	'3	:			•				* *	•
2	bfi	£"			&				0 0	^
*J	O	'3			'3				w w	*2
o		O			O				QQ	O
1	,±r	•			'5				'3 |	»
0	fee	^"			bfl					2
s	"5	'3			'Q				^3 *^	is
5	fc	0			(C				fcS	O
faO 0	bcj«r	1-G C							O
	.2 °	§ £

,

"1 ^|- o £

o

«J fO CU

^ ^*N ^

"" ^ o

-afc£> r

2 O

W -y

•S-&

•s'5

•^

T3 3

o> c

II

s^

1

0

Q

-M Ja 2

^ fe >

|«Q

ill ii.s

J*> r0

a<!>H

00

562

APPENDIX.

			O	O ' an .JI, *J o <•><
			*	"1^ J T, § 'c 1
			!_	*"""* 63 _^ cd 5^ cd f o
			o	ed ' r" o S tc **
				+f ~v 3 c ^ g
			4	ee3 •*-» jH a ^
			j>	o Tj ** tT*—, ^
	"m		ed	"ed J2 e o £ a "
	4>			g s O-g tT
	a <u		I"
	a		bfl	»— < jj " '•^ "*-* • ^^ t-« cd
	tft			0 ="^3 ^~-°~
			1	»o e o o P-c g ^
			fcfl	o> "^ S § Jij o ed
			ed	'« « ° 'S a, tr?'0
			pj	O JM CJ <**! ^^ O
			. _	<u • - ^j K ed **	•	•
			,j .	**. • c H 2 n3 -w	rr a>	"O
/-N			— J2	O aj ed — . o_		-4->
*—~_			fe 63	-G o> ^rLS *-> '~t r*A	e 3 o	^
O			^ O	en > •?"» o t.	O C71 *J	CT*
c				ed a; 5J 2 *> O S »» <f: C ed IH tS pO	g 0 g	j
1			B	,	^ ^	£>
S r	'•z		I*	1	'3 J	^
s	n*.		'3		»2 '"^	(0
o •f*	**		O	i
"o			£»	^.	-^ *	^>
"S			^•^3	^*-N	7^2	*™J
S "C	1		1	3 bO	3 " MU Q	'3
S	p-		o	"o	"o .?	'o
a S		fec_r .S"3	rS-ll 3	•* »N fli v$%	_c	"3 >
I		•*-; > S ° •- ^^ $W	C C "- •- O u, c	l:5*g " JS - "^ bD 03 63	£ In	§ " § §
V b		* e J2X3 3^ .2^	lljl c o 5* o	. >,'«"« ^ I" 1^1^ s -l1"-^	I	o £ & . " "S be bn •*-; a
	1 P	a c o cd <£ c — a ll a> ~ bJOSj *^ 6^	J. ~ ? *> S "5 o ^/ 4J ^"l Cd	0 bc-n CU S S-S g ** 4, "^ > «8 ed -s -C fc- o: _T *- ~ ^3 -o g S £ T3 0 S 4&M £ bD a) ed S w>.g -5 ^3 'S ed -^ • ^ "3 g .2 "o J	2 s. 5 !E "« * r^ ^c3 cd '^ * §^ 0 ^ ^ o n3 ftj QJO O s s r^ r. §> 556s- £
			•	«	03	• •
				*	s >, :	* *
			^	1	So5e . bi) 3	JD5 g
	i		1	%	*31	"5 =* a o
	*		b	J	«'a s	£ IS
			9	•™^	P 4) c	S c
			OJ	j^.	PT— ( t* ^ ^^ 4) gg	S £
			!E	»•*•	W '"s >^	>-» Q

APPENDIX. . 563

""" ""-M —

J H 3 Jj H ^ § O B

!lil *1lif

-§ a o s r -s £ & -S S

(^ W f jT r- i ^. CC JL W ^"* CO

^ S *- tn J ^-3 fi rl TS £.

• « • i aT £ = o ° w 1 ^

t> * 5 cS 5 . ,-. O en >

1 1'o'^-S ^ 1

•s •= ^s^-s^ -3 ^ « s •« S ^

gccp^ J3J330h£

r* S3 « 5 & s

'3 o "3 .^ o '3

O aj O Q ^ O

'&

bfi bD J b£) bfi

o o o .-a o o

!K fc !g Q fe ^g

^ g3 S *o ^§2.»g ^>« sA A » g c i 5»

.5 v ._S t» *j S,a3 v *J ^ ^ -« J3 bC"^ 'S

•* S g «5 ^ J 3.sf£rt5tr I^S ^-2^^'E'c-

i^^^ gj^ ift«i ijrj tp.^ls*

^ ^ x- I •§ S « 1 .5 -j: 7 >^«s S3 ^ -| ="s S S S

fill ^1 flflJ llfc ^Sw^sllo

Hl| «fe llf&

lit*

SSo'2 ' 5 « - fr ."SKtn^O 'S&^a3ti'«a) ^°W*i»-

ST.h-,£ > JS % *•--. .-!H P-r-iSSCS U!-?iw4»

'> S o X > « tT -feW

"'S^l -J ^C'M-S,

l§le in !^lJ0!|l

SfaJ.E jl^ ll^-a.Ssf.llga'a.s'a-isji

g a 05 -a g » I-B g o-S 22ggac»-2g §-a»n^HJ pV3

_ j ^3 -a efTS >^ ^a • " •. " ~"' ~

• V o g 9 v C . . .

s ll p.l i *§ >» :

S^oaio.SiS fi

I I|3l3 ^ 1 I I 1

*™^ ^"4 v^ _ ^ fl} A1 W ^_» .^»

» • * as "O N)

•^^ C3 r-j rt _r^ 03 JM f n —

g -2^.^^^ §|| |

0-SwSo ^H? ^ oo 2

564

APPENDIX.

** "O ' 4>

-r* 2 o

•2 ,r&.

,.-] ™* o

2 CT fe

Co O •»-> 3.fe

-

g T3

S

I

S: o

i

^ *

T3

<J

O)

f

>-s

^ &

S MS

^

w

T

O

O

bO

00

O

j* >

>, M-

. . I.

*

"

3j.

S -3 o

• "

"

-

« &fli

" ' "

'-^ «3 ur. "C

I

1-8

B o

H

APPENDIX.

565

s e a ? e

E? -S 5> *~ i

§ r.s b fe

e S £

w _9 » ^* ** w

•s ^ § 5J e s „->» . a, ., :s

*

o -« a

^

jj -r

~e a «j pi<5 e -~

siS4.ni1

0 MS V, ^ « v

-

1 1 1 -

•s o o Ui

02 -

	aT C JS bD
	S, *>	g			5 bfo
	£ fcC' > = e	1			1
	Ii	3
	*TJ J5 • g i-C3 _	s			~i
	^ ^J-H	c			•^*
	>> 0	o			.3
S	s 1	o>			3
a	' t^ ^ '	2			Q
•2	cu S				_rt
c	«*	S
09	eo o '	i			1
	W J	S			S-	J
	t|				c o	|				T3
	^5 .2	z:			p	>				S
	r75 *^	0			^ "	~^				• ^H
	*^ l ,	c *	I		" 02 ^	H				•3^^
	y	S c	3		O	— •				Q
'd	>	%				)				1
E	31				—
>	"B O				'3 O					"o
C3	> 's	i			'3	1				'3
	bD feD	=D
S	C				Jo					"S
1 w	)h the wilful murder of m Price at HobartTown, eman's Land, in the ter-	& ^ "3 0 OS 0	»f March, 1816.	0 c v2i ^	s1 ^ eS "5 ^^ N 2*3 ^. (U	James Walton, of Par- n the 31st Octob. 1816.	ith feloniously breaking	~ cr1 ^ ^ t- "w * '" | JS |W,"^ 4) « ^ >>^ 13 -s S.-s bfi g S «
*	" r* cd * "^	7	w	^.	y E	^ t	o	^	. ^	m	nH 0
0 S i ~i i 2	Charged v\ oneWilli in Van E	c >-, _c 'C	>-> rt 'O _-= do	TS CJ ;=c 5 C	£s I-S	tc _o 5 "S	ramatta,	-s 0 r^ « -S i>	0 73 5	-a 5-5 u td , ^J ^ :I3.3 o- « § ^«a
3	•									4)
1	i*|				JC					h
I « ? i	C				1					O <u
s fc	S				c --					d
	^ta				o					j^
	^				1-9					r^
o	»-* N ro

566

APPENDIX.

		<u 0 _1 . i « S IO O — - -i
		O 0 g ™
		<2 .| W ;g « ~
		&* ° LS 2 o
		O ?\ o * r*
		^0 * | £0.
		.g ^T1^ "H. 5^ 'S "g
	CJ	S os Frt "13 *** "
	B	3 aj «e " >- tc
	f GO	•alls ^^!
		co «^« *g t-t ^ c3
		d) 4^ r^ *^. •^ C3 — S "** "S ^^
		•= « U o o ° S
		*"^ *^3 ^ r^ Q-i ».-j .~ti g " K W 5o X J3
^		^ 1,1 ^l-l I *s e	O)
13		i-C '2 ** ^ ^e o " "^ **	'3
O		S ""^ n ® t§ S n " **	cr1
—		Q«d f-l^1"11 f-i*"1^	•*!
fl		• »i*^ * •	5^
0		£	-w
o	_^j	^~^	r^2
r	0 1	^ ID ^ ^>	1
	u	'3 o '3 '3	_ "o
'•S		O S5 • O O	Zj
•»		*?• ^ ^	5
,00	0* •	bO bO bfl	1
s	fC	•4-» [ « ( ^	>
s	f*4	O O O	o
		X F^i 25	25
"e a: 'I 9	V V a s	sfigs-s-s ^|^i§ ^it° I'irf^l'i 1 ***•?? l|?| * S .§) g^-S ,1-^B §._§*§ *fl tsj °^_| ^rsf|s.si^si^§ i-u^ iMUllllIilf ll-r -2-S So fe" § ? 12 -2 ^° Qra«n^-crt^ |i!t!!l!!?|.!l|2jjt .•^^ ^.^^-S-g * 5 -o "S » * ^-3 « 'g sli^i'C-eE§=l£l*l|| TJ ~ §- e £ £ ^ » TS •> ° <=£•_£ g -TS f~ o •- 4>s^ui^i^a'i:3i£<"fcinajiur^S|i' bn J3 ^ .; bfl fl O.W 30^,gMCg^-^>fc»D=J -S is ^ « «Ju^ g js'^s s^=£ o s^ ^^-i j^-i-s-a^ gJ^i'&'s^»J3« ll \J M W W	fac g C ^j IE "S l.s1 "aJ ^"o •-C o C3 •Sol 4) 'oj t* bD ^ ca
	I	> S'C !§ - a j g^ 0 jg 0	II fe 0
	'K	,3*3 ic 'A •§
			0) _' raw
	g	^•WS«O^-» 00 Oi O>-^
	*

APPENDIX. 567

» 5

^ g S

- 5 g

CB JJ- E

•a

O

fefl

.•= 02

§D "o

fc

and bur- tering the nce But- stealing value. ly receiv- ,knowing by some nown. assaulting the 6th

£• § £ 1 ® 1 § g "3 is

1-sS * S'SSS 3^>ar .2 §J^-3^ « * "S g

§ ^ § « «« S c ^-5 | ^. 2-g° ^S^^gS^^g ^ •* S ^£-^1^ S^W-S

l3lt!wii?J

g-84JSjj.rj&g§-8- ill I

w* *

. • <£ a o

568

APPENDIX,

-"

5-i

9 su s -5 - e

te
ji
S			'
S
H
	I! o	Bj CO 0) >	II	•s o « w ^ >>	1
	2 g	2 *°	<£ e3	^ — t. 3	•2 u
		G	•"*i	rP '"S	eg
d	i-rt i«*	T3 £	"O -=	^^ — —	•^ CU
E	o .S	•r cu	cu ®	'^S S	^ >»
a	V		C ™	CO <n	^- cu
•2	o cu	o tu	.i.S	o jj
s
$	CK *J *= U,	1 fc^	5- co	'C co .	e °
		CtS o
	i- t-l-l		-5	a c cc) r cu _ ~x cu	is5-
	O CO	,U _SJ a	«	S -G 'cu S	CU^J
	-0 1J5 CS	•^ "g *	-° S	g ^ ^3 g g	4:1 "s
	H ° ^	H ° >	•>£ *	i ° o ys Q H	H °
a	*	*	I	^ '	^
i	£»	^>	^>	S» ^»	j£>
•U	'3	'3	'3	'3 '3	'3
s	o	a	0	O O	O
	tJD «T *	,.i •	bD C	bJD g	"o
	|S	"« cp ? 1 T3 S „, cti cu _;	a S ?,3 ? «	"S «g	CO _cu
	^ 03	•5 .	T3 ^	T3 ?*, OH	"Sn
Offence.	8 CU S — O •^ -G	^sS- Ji" =a o ^ 4).	O « J3 •S c1- CU CO •S3	i?! 3 JZ e a •*	CU -S S.
	O	&»s	^^	b'o >.	>->(£
	C <u CU <e •	-§ J ^bfi 9 S W"	U	-2 » S-g bfl | S .-2	i|
	•	•		T3 " •	a
	"	*		C • «	Q
	_	i		ei . •
	^	>>			-a
	§	1		= •5 >> 0 4> £	* e
cu S 1	e J cu 01	E Q 1	-o !>	sf-S £ x S H sa -5 • • 1 25 ,Q Jl .3	. o < CO S.J
	1	S	g	^^ S	tf ^

APPENDIX.

560

,G	i	"o		en	u	e	g	T3	tn <u * £3 t<
->-j	1	0		O	3	.i	o	cd	0^
T3	_c	&£ — CU		C	-a	'C PH	o cu u,	£	0 cu .£ cu
CU 3	*k	I		1	§	A t-,		•—	-G
3	^ a	c2.		jS	•	|	CU	g	•g "£
O s s 0 u JS H	prisoner to men	siderationofhis;	6 I	The prisoner has	o S o «« >- -a o	1 S fe. •s ffi	CO cd _cu -S CO *Ui cu	O -H cu 1 a	** s ^0 -5 <U o-S T3 «T « -S && OC 4) cd co	discharged him.
			13 <t> G *J	1 •
			£ 2 £ C	^
			.« > -£ S 2	o »

5 S

	-2	i	cu	11	-d cu	^'	-5
	C	i	^	9 u*	C	cu	fen
	o cu	1	0 P-.	•- rt S-i -S	o	> cu	•
	a cd	i	en	o-'^3 .§ s	1 a	CO o	•3
	E	Ui	w		E	^t— <	^~ -
	cu	. w £	"cu	E^'S	cu	-2	cu
		2 ^ cd	^a		>°	"en	1^3
	Hf	SH **"	H	^H^	o H	2	H

-^ bJD -w*

'3 o		'3 C	"3 c C5 S?	3 o		0	l<!	0	** -n a *™^ ^i S3
I cu	'o	aT o	cu	cu CO |	cu	I	s	b£	|
0 O-,	cu en y o	0	s5	Sac c	s 1	r	cu '/} 3	"3	^,
<u	^	.^	'3			,-C	O	^	^9
	S	!_ e	o i	"a>	fch	c;	J^	0	O ^^
	"^4^	CU	^-	•* c	cU			*~^
cx,CJ		33	-a '	-3 —	"rO	"3	"^	*""	^
cu a	.2			.3^	\ C	i-s	a	c	s

S r 4 — 3

iS W be- —

J

Itlli

n

1.1

xCfi

£ 2 g g H« § j

^ I

t_ Ql ^H

II «

O

CQ

"o o ctf

570

APPENDIX.

JS
a
E
E
ti
	V 2	o	"§ 1 Is fc Si 2	Is 0> 3 !>-i	2 .s	l| 2 ^
o	T3	c	o o> -o -c ^	C "^ C1J	O	e 'O ^
	CU	« 4J>		CP 4)	*•"	cu cp
V DO	CO "~	t. *- 0 g n-.o Is	S G "C • 0 § Qj& en w M«i3 •— < ^^ cc "^ B-^1 S * S.-2 2^	o 3 I *"	CU •S "° C N *'e	"*" a fi
	1-1 cu			"cu -2
	CJ —		^ o o ^^
	"o S	® S	^3 co J2 -^	^ "S	tg Rj s ^	-° to
	H °		H "" H °	H °	Q *	H °
a	I	>,	• •	4T •	•	•
E
1	'3	o	'3 '3	bD ^* "o '3	. '5	'3
*»	O	/^^A.^r^	O 0	^ O	O	O
		O be	£ K/	^ : to :	•	& •
		eL ^"-S	O |^J	w ' C		<u •
		*""^ c/) ^	^^ •	r» 1—4 — t *™^	cc	c- .
		fccj • «"*	•** ^	-W ^ So	o	o
		~ »• o		§ o 'S | KM 'O u2 1 - w	13 2 us	(-1 J,^ cu cu -C G
8		bt)^	^o °	;> ^ >->	a	*' C ^ cu
c £	"3	'PH g -5 o	bD 22 bD	•	^5 o	l«
O	,0	s£i> •* ,.	cu o .S	bt O .S —	» 1 (	cp -o
	oj	•— %,_ bi	83 * "cu	• .S >-> ',	o	ec
	bD	? O "O C s r £.'S	bD W)& .S *t3 t	if,' 1*1	fc. 13	Cj c bC 0 .SO
	"3	t- aj ca j-	a* CtJ flj C ^ , £J r-r ^	5- £ bo	9	"2 t4-
	t»	ta ^0^	^D (J5	' p_ j ^3		i5 °
		T3 " *		o S	•a,	.
	.	0 co !	.	j=. • — H-*-1 r~^ QJ [^	et5 tf	c cu
QJ	O 1 ffl .2	95 „• 5< 3 ^ »« J SH C3 ' "* O r- Qi T3 0 = HS -g	S « 1 a ^ £ ^S rt	ll-« s !-, ^— • O O en at ^	Walker & rson	s .2
	£	x^ ^ <u d o <« «	"S -3 a ~ -= U- 0 &	I iff J §US J o H, J-8	c «J -= « "o — N»

t

4

a

APPENDIX.

571

«	A	w S	«2 •	o	X' E	t«-» <2	3	fc 3	L	4? 1 S (L	1 S
	t^	T3	§J,		K			T3	0)	O	0
0	seven	u o P-, m c	seven	o E o 0)	o> "S	o o>	S E o p- & CO	g | en	4) U	-a a> o • 'C	— •^ 0 o r^
f3	£	3 J- ,	.0	g	•_ •3	5 u,	cti CQ fc* O	2 Jj .S .-S

O

H

r5 S

0) O

OH

•° S rt o o <u

H~Q

o H

o.S

3

-w* bn

o

bC

O

& -w1

3

O

3 3 O O

3 3 O

OOfc

O

o

a

•S -S C8

M § fc^g

.ss

i^.s5 -	;
2 § -= £			.
	1
bC	J2
C 43	CO
1'is ^	! P	c	) )

be . bo .

•^•Sc

| <E •a "S

-S S3

SO m

42 *S *> S *>

^e£-S S "

S5*

H S *: H

JO

-

bO

cc

O) 43

Mg1^ b'S C .S3 W ro O)

.= ^ » "bb ffl g-§| s|

^ eg 03

3 O

bU

-a

KJ

a

^ I i^

"I 5

g C

M <

» ffl -<J

2 03

CO • — '

S § I-

£^ fc

H

§ s * 1m

>~> a

CiJ-ii

^l^lo^r

jiliS W

-g t: §"3 « §o

HZ «3 43 43 "^ Q Q ^PQH ^r5MW

9 §

S ^^

2 » T S

-^ o is £3

~ 43 ctS O

fe H0,£

Wr

chael M'D

H tn

572

APPENDIX.

>

^

o . S a Si

O O>

a

(B

d

-

e

O O

S-B

-—

S 1 5 S

11 *-i

aj •« =i C "£

3330

O O O fc

3

o

S

lso

°

-

'El-a -s

a •" S

^ |

™ H S

^ g^~ -• O) tt3 E ^3 CS c

0 j -= «MH

APPENDIX.

573

8 8

O _ ,

e

•- G

* 9>

IH

w ,„

u o> o

PH > CW

.. «a «-

•1-^*

.*" bfi^

o

JflS4

*•* CU •* D_

bn-i-> v- 5

fe £

!.l

•o.. SJT.1

*• 5 «

*

a — « «

e £

1 ££

SUM

H.1JE,

-* *— 1J^ ^ nj

C T\ C" S

rC s -s _, ^

^-"1^ ^3 <D C5 fe £ O g N

£<2-s s tf a jS^JJ'^l

ji^li

3	5 5	3 O	g* •« 5 3* S
O	O O	0 ^	|~ ~0 T3 § *j
•	•	I?	flj r^ . ff P< (U ti en * •»_
^	JU	3 PH	• ^" " — . i^^ C a* g.sTf
,	1	|	S -g '-S "c ^ 8-5 § ?*Ss S a ' a ^ S
' • ' •	I 6	f- a	o .s 3 _ S3 ™ g 3 -S *9 '§ '-S ^ £ O j- S3 e*i £
•	f ^	r* ^^	oj -" "3 "* s
5- o	o o	bn^s .S °	•S o ^ tf 8 •s Isg3'i.
	o ^	-^ ^^
E		cd ^^
a	,"*J* 9
	Q 53	_i O a?
•	;	li
•		§ «
g	e ~	-S 4=1 «
^H	^J -- — —
3 <-i	£ -o	ell

53 >>

•5 C T3 .O-3

B <9 .S O

OS O >"»

bfl-C <U

£ , nS

c ° -J^ § S'i

.«- O B

r

bfl

T3

H3

S

O

4

O) I

03

0

I

si

3 _W m CO CO r// CJ

a s a-n

" S^:S

574

APPENDIX.

e

*"" • •*

« fcra

~ <; ;

N-E

rH

t

« "? 5 *> ~ •**

•2 53 fi

3 H O	^v V T O --t «' •	II 1, OlOO^tO^ — O>O<OOl«OTtO-«
	0**5-^ao^"(VOtD«^	SS§=S2S5S^2gs«
W " £ ll X S|	'-'-/- '^ ^ — ~ c	fsi'S -, |«| |«
w	<N O* °5 O5 O* *J» -^	• n -• — -. M -^ — o»
	.... ««» -w
00 £*S £»l|	cj I : ; T *-•»• — IM tv	^.^.g.*.........
	. . . «r«rcre~c"cr	s" «" «T sT to x o" oT ve" -c" «f oT o~ <T
H
y S § -J B "3	•«' 1 M0055'!?^ ^ OOOKtOIOOOO	1 1 1 1 ("I I*"5*'*)'"
B		•"» -"s 2:2;^
tiflflll	^ : :»,2«. ,r	« -. 1 — *" 1 "
	^+i • •f-»OOOTOOOT'N3	— t-cy^-a — — «^«2j;S
A	.	m H«
w 3 ..frfc.2	^5 | o ; | •«• «o * | - »
	54 1 -:is§S :|s	CiO— «^— «-«CV«(VOOaO
	:« rs-ss :2"	»»•».«» z'-^S g*0™"1
S-sfjl « §	^j | | i <M "n^^oi '*?*	oo » *" r • 1 ^2
W > °	' ' «""S-'-'<VW	""-t°2-S?£ :C>S5:"
H § § 1 3	•30 — •* v ~ i~*'2""	-|-2«o»|= —
H	*!PP4!!I!	|||§||||i||||
BO
a	iiiiiiiiti	^:^:§i'§'§:i§:ii:s:

APPENDIX.

575

-- IV •»• 35 <O «S •«

OO I CM'-'O'C-^Ci'^ 00 -H W,-^ f CO K O O

>

To1«T-^ai « 01 to

'

•* I I I I •n 1 1 1

t^ o^so^c^-^

t-'

o .

"52 £

— * <V

: *f •- o.a E? «T! Jj - s o ^g 0302Ua

12

o -.

II

s*. 1°S

-y o cu JS4 Ml§

o d, » c £

**-• c *° -. £

^ a ^ oi fa

55 i.|i

^ 5 u H ^

. S a.

•s ? a

<~ C Q.

l

5 g ~ 2 a s 2 « "o >;-s ^s

«r 2 *i c >,S H "•

*

576 APPENDIX.

NAILS FOR NEW SOUTH WALES.

Lath Common Four-penny rose.

Shingle Four-penny. The stout are too short, and the

long too fine. The long of same substance as the short will do best. (Rose head.)

Batten }

Paling >• Short eight-penny rose.

Weather boarding}

For other purposes 1 where longer nails > Twenty-penny Rose, are required .... 3

> The English Nails in general too fine for FIoonng J hardwood.

Spikes Forty-penny Rose.

Brads .Two- penny, four-penny, six-penny

Tacks.... , Of sizes.

THE LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY CF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES

APPENDIX. 577

CAP. CXXII. — An Act to pertriit Vessels under a certain * Tonnage to trade between the United Kingdom and New South Wales.— [12th July, 1819.]

Whereas by an Act passed in the fifty-third year of his present Majesty's reign, entitutled, " An Act for continuing in the East India Company, for a further term, the possessions of the British Territories in India, together with certain ex- clusive privileges ; for establishing certain regulations for the government of the said territories, and the better administra- tion of justice within the same ; and for regulating the trade to and from the places within the limits of the said company's charter; it was among other things declared and enacted, that no ship or vessel, the registered measurement whereof shall be less than three hundred and fifty tons, other than such ships or vessels as may be employed by the East India Com- pany as packets, shall clear out from any port in the United Kingdom for any port or place within the limits of the said Company's Charter, or be admitted to entry at any port of the United Kingdom from any place within the said limits : and whereas it is expedient that the said regulation and restriction shall be repealed, so far as relates to ships or vessels trading between the United Kingdom and his Majesty's Colony in New South Wales ; be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this pre- sent Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that from and after the passing of this Act it shall and may be lawful for any ship or vessel owned and navigated according to law, to trade between any port or place in the United Kingdom and the said colony and its dependencies, and to sail and pass to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, although such ship or vessel shall be of less registered measurement than three hundred and fifty tons; any thing in any law, statute, or custom to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding. II. Provided always, and be it enacted and declared, that this Act, or any thing herein contained, shall in no ways au- thorize or entitle any ship or vessel to sail, pass, or repass be- tween the sixty-fourth and one hundred and fiftieth degree* ol

p P

578 APPENDIX.

east longitude from London further to the northward than the eleventh degree of south latitude ; and all ships and vessels whatsoever, sailing, passing, or repassing to the northward of the eleventh degree of south latitude between the sixty-fourth and one hundred and fiftieth degrees of east longitude from London, shall be and remain subject to the same laws, provi- sions, and restrictions as they would have been subject to if this Act had not been made or passed ; any thing hereinbefore contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding.

CAP. CXIV. — An Act to slay Proceedings against any Governor or other Persons concerned in imposing and levy- ing Duties in New South Whales; to continue, until the First Day of January One thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, certain Duties ; and to empower the said Governor to levy a Duty on Spirits made in the said Colony.— [12th July 1819.]

Whereas since the establishment of a colony in New South Wales, the governors, or other persons administering the go- vernment thereof, have from time to time caused to be raised and levied certain rates and duties upon goods, wares, and merchandize imported into or exported from the settlements therein : and whereas it is expedient that the said governors and all other persons who may have advised, issued, or exe- cuted any order with respect to the raising or levying any such rates or duties should be protected from vexatious suits until further provision shall be made by Parliament ; be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That until the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, no personal action or suit, indictment, information, prosecution, or proceeding what- soever, shall be prosecuted or commenced against any governor of New South Wales, or against any person or persons, for having advised, commanded, or carried into execution any orders for the levy of any rate or duty in the said colony pre- vious to the passing of this Act; and that if any action or suit, indictment, information, or other proceeding shall be prosecuted

APPENDIX. 579

or commenced against any person or persons, for or by reason of any such act. matter, or thing so advised, commanded, ap- pointed, or done, it shall be lawful for the defendant in any such action, suit, indictment, or information as aforesaid, to apply to the court in which such action shall be brought, during the sitting of such court, or to any judge of such court during vacation, for stay of proceedings, and such court and such judge respectively are hereby required to slay such proceedings ac- cordingly until the said first day of January one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one.

II. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act, until the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, it shall be lawful for the go- vernor, or other person administering the government of New South Wales, to order and direct the levy of any rate or duty which may have been imposed or usually collected or levied in the said colony previous to the passing of this Act, and no other: provided also, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the said governor, or other person admi- nistering the government of the said settlement, from ordering at any time the discontinuance of any rate or duty heretofore imposed, collected, or levied within the said colony or settle- ment.

III. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be law- ful for the governor or other person administering the govern- ment of the said colony for the time being,vto order and direct the levy of a duty upon any spirits made within the colony, although no such duty may have been heretofore imposed and collected ; provided always, that the amount of such duty shall in no case exceed the amount of duty levied and paid upon spirits imported into the said colony and settlements ; and it shall be lawful for the governor to make such rules and regu- lations as may be necessary for the collection and levy of the same, in the same manner as if the said duty upon spirits made within the said colony had been imposed, collected, and levied previous to the passing of this Act ; any thing in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding.

To be published shortly, by Ackerman, Strand,

ELEVEN BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS of the TOWN of SYDNEY, the HARBOUR of PORT JACKSON, the RIVER HAWKESBURY, and the BLUE MOUNTAINS, the TOWN of NEWCASTLE, and the COAL RIVER ; to which will be prefixed copious Explanations, and an Historical Sketch of the Colony of NEW SOUTH WALES, from the period of its institution to the present time. These Engravings were executed at Sydney, from Drawings taken on the Spot, by Capt. WALLACE, of the 46th regiment, late Commandant of the Settlement of Newcastle.

W. SHACKELL, Printer, Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, London.

, DEC. 181 Q.

AGRICULTURAL, SPORTING,

AMI

BOTANICAL BOOKS,

PUBLISHED BY SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND JONES, Boofc0eHer0 to tge Boarfc of Agriculture,

PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.

/« Two large Volumes, in Quarto, Price Six Guineas in Boards, illustrated with upwards of Oi Hundred Engravings, (Thirty of which are coloured from Nature} representing improved Imp mentt, the various Cranes, and the principal Breeds of Sheep and Cattle, from Origin Drawings,

A COMPLETE SYSTEM

OF

Practical Agriculture;

Including all the MODERN IMPROVEMENTS and DISCOVERIES, and the result . all the attention and inquiry which have been bestowed on this important Science, durir: the last Fifty Years: the whole combining and explaining, fully and completely, tl PRINCIPLES and PRACTICE of MODERN HUSBANDRY, in all its Branches aud II. lations.

BY R. W. DICKSON, M.D.

HONORARY MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, &C. &C.

This Work includes every Branch of the important Art to which it relates, Arabic and Pa lure ; particularly the best Methods of Planting, aftd the improved Management of Live Stock with a Description of Implements and Buildings, the Theory of Soils and Manures, the best mi thods of Inclosing, Embanking, Road-making, Draining, Fallowing, Irrigating, Paring, ar Burning, the Improved Cultivation of Arable Lands, and of all Kinds of Grain, Artificial Grasse &c. &c. It presents the most useful and comprehensive Body of Practical Information everoffc ed to the Public on the interesting Science of AGRICULTURE; a Science, which is so intimatel connected with the Welfare and Happiness of the British Empire.

Reliance is placed on the Support of Noblemen, Clergymen, Country Gentlemen, and intelligei Farmers, in this Undertaking, which it calculated to remove the Obstacles that have hitherto pn tented themselves to the Introduction of Agricultural Improvements.

Extracted and abridr/ed from the above, by the same Author, in Two Volumes, in royal Octavo, illustrated with numerous Engravings,

THE FARMER'S COMPANION,

BEING A

COMPLETE SYSTEM OF MODERN HUSBANDRY

Including the latest Improvements and Discoveries, IN THEORY AND PRACTICE.

Second Edition. Pyice Two Guineas, irt Boards. *** This abridged and Cheap Edition of " PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE," is printed in cot •ormity with the views and wishes of numerous Cand-Owners and patriotic Countr Senilemen; and, though published under the more Popular Title of "THE FARMER'S Cow PANION," retains every established Principle, Fact, and Improvement in that uob Jcieiice. All the recent improvements in Agricultural Practice which have fallen witl.'.n th Author's own observation are introduced, as well as what could be derived from the latei Publications of the BOARS OF AGRICULTURE.

Published by Sherwood, KeeJy, and Jones,

THE CODE OF AGRICULTURE;

INCLUDING

OBSERVATIONS ON GARDENS, ORCHARDS, WOODS AND PLANTATIONS:

By the Right Hon. Sir JOHN SINCLAIR, Bart.

This Second Edition is considerably improved, by a Number of valuable Remarks, communi- cated to the Author by some of the most intelligent Farmers in England and Scotland. The Subjects particularly considered, are

"• The Preliminary Poii.U which a Farmer ought to ascertain before he undertakes to occupy any Extent ct Land.

2. The Means of Cultivation which are essential to ensure its Success.

3. The various Modes of improving Land.

4. The various Modes of occupying Land.

5. The Means of improving a Country.

In One Volume Svo. Price One Guinea in Boards.

Sir John Sinclair s Code of Agriculture \* one of the most valuable books of the year. In point of fact it core, Ti- trates the know ed-c aruasscU during H,<- expcnen, e of a ong life, pa^ed amidst th- bc-t opportunity ,.f col lit in- infor- JU..IIOM; and txlu'.iis Ihc results, in a torm condensed with great loR.cal acumen, of all the labour* and p,bl , moiifrn «nt.>rs on Agriculture. In Ihn hMt u>nu> of tko nnm sir I K ,.,ri ,;_ i,_ -""•-,<•<.,,

ic or Ihi' great* intpro\eiuru[, a K in Ihc. libi-an rsuits." Monthly Magazine.

LAWRENCE'S AGRICULTURAL & VETERINARY WORKS,

Complete,

COMPREHENDING A BODY O.F USEFUL PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE

RELATIVE TO

THE CULTURE OF THE SOIL,

POLITICAL ECONOMY, VETERINARY MEDICINE, AND THE MANAGEMENT OF LIVE STOCK:

In Five large Volume?, Svo. Price <£2. 15s. Gd. in Boards. They may olio be had separately, viz.:

1. THE NEW FARMER'S CALENDAR; or, Monthly Remembrancer

6f all Kinds of Country Business: In One Volume. Fifth Edition; with laree Additions, containing a full Practical Exposition of the Nature, Causes, and Effects of "Blight, Smut, ISIildcw, and other Diseases of Corn,— and useful Hints on the mo.t important Branches oi Husbandry, the Row-eiilture, total Extirpation of Weeds, and the perpetual Fallow of the Hoe. Price 12s. Boards.

2. A Genenil TREATISE on CATTLE, the Ox, the Sheep, and the

S.vine: In One Volume. Second Edition ; with large Additions. Price 12s. Boards.

3. A Philosophical and Practical TREATISE ou HORSES, and on the

Moral Duties of Man towards tlic Brute Creation : In Two Volumes. Third Edition ; wiih large Additions on the Breeding and Improvement of the Horse, the Dangers of our present Travelling System, the Merits of Lord Er.skine's Bill, &c. Price «£l. Is. Boards.

" Mr. Lawrence writes with spirit, good sense, and humanity; and we recommend his Work tr the notice of our Readers."— Monthly Rentw.

4. THE MODERN LAND STEWARD; in which tl* Duties and Fuuo

lions of Stewardship aix- consideied :md explained, with its several Relations to the Interest: of the f.andlor«i, Tenant, and the Public. In One Volume. Price 10s. od. Boards.

" If the Author bad not already recommended himself to the Public by his " A'ew Fai-mtr't Calen- rfcr,"and <itli<;r works, the judicious obs,-i vations and useful hints, here offered, would iilaie him in tbf list of those Rural Counsellor* who are capuhleof giving advice. HU sentiments on general subu-cfe expand beyond the narrow boundaries oi' vulgar prejudice; and his good sense is forcibly recoin- im-nded to u-,, l>y its acting in concert with a humane dinpogition."— Monthly Review.

In a neat Volume, extracted from the "NEW FARMER'S CALENDAR,"

THE FARMER'S POCKET CALENDAR; or, Monthly Remem.

brancer of all Kinds of Country BUMMSS: comprehending all the material improvements in the New Husbandry. !•'. i<-e 'Js. sewed.

THE EXPERIMENTAL FARMER; being Strictures on various

Branches of Hit>!>aiu!ry and Agriculture, drawn from a long Series of Practice in chllen ii: Partb of Great Britain. By THOMAS T1BBS, Farmer, late Laud-Steward to LoidGrerf- ville. Price Cs. Boards.

Paternoster Row, London.

Agricultural Mqiorts,

DRAWN UP UNDER THE IMMEDIATE SANCTION OF PARLIAMENT, AND PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE

tJoarlr of Agriculture.

SHERWOOD, NEELY, and JONES, her, leave most respectfully to submit to the Notice of the Nobility, Cfcrw, Gentry, and Farmers of the United Kingdom, this truly NATIONAL and most Imjmrlant Work. It consists of New and Improved Editions of the COUNTY SURVKYS, and unites every Species of Information re- lative to the STATISTICAL, ECONOMICAL, AGRICULTURAL, and COMMERCIAL STATE of each County, illustrated with Maps and Plah-s. These SURVEYS have been drawn up by Men of established reputation for Agricultural Knowledge; and bij means of them, (all of which are of acknowledged accuracy ) the Nature of the Soil, the Pnxluc- tions, Improvements, and peculiar Practices of each Comity, are fully developed.

and

Bedfordshire, with a Map and Plates, by

Mr. Bachelor o 15 o

Berkshire, ditto, by Dr. Mavor 0 18 0

Buckinghamshire, ditto, by the Rev. St.

John Priest 0 12 0

Cambridgeshire, Map, by the Rev. Mr.

Gooch 0 9 0

Cornwall, ditto, by Mr. Worgan I!!Ioi2 0

Cheshire, Map and Plates, by H. Holland,

Ks<I 010 6

Derbyshire, Vol. I. ditto, by Mr. Farcy, sen. 1 1 0

, Vol.11. Plates, ditto 0 15 0

, Vol. HI. Map and Mate*, dttta o 18 o

Devonshire, Map mid Plates, by C. Van- couver, Esq 0 Ii8 0

Dorsetshire, Map, by Mr. Stevenson 0 12 0

Durham, Map and Plates, by Mr. Bailey.. 0 10 0

Essex, 2 vol. ditto, by A. Young, Esq 1 4 o

Gloucestershire, ditto, by T. Nudge, B. D. 0 9 0

H;uii|ishire, ditto, by C.Vancouver, Esq... 016 0 Herefordshire, ditto.by J.Dunc'.'mbe, A.M. 070

Hertfordshire, ditto, by A. Young, Esq. .. o 8 0 Huntingdonshire, Slap and Plate, by Mr.

Parkinson 090

Jersey and Guernsey, by T. Quayle, Esq. 010 6

K. nt, ditto, by Mr. Boys 0 8 0

Leicestershire and Rutland. Map and

Plates, by Pitt and Parkinson 0 15 0

Lancashire, by Di\ Dicksou, revised by Mr. Stevenson, author of the Surrey

Report, with Map 0 14 0

Lincolnshire, Map and Plates, by A. Young,

Esq. 2d Edition 0 12 0

Middlesex, Map, by J. Middleton, Esq.

£d Edition '. .. o 15 0

-Argyleshire, with a Map and Plates, by

Dr. J. Smith 090

Berwickshire, ditto, by Mr. Kerr II o 1* o

Caithness, ditto, by Capt. Henderson 0 15 o

Clydesdale, Map, by Mr. Naismith 0 7 o

Dumfries, Map and Plates, by Dr. Singer 0 IS 0

East Lothian, Map, by Mr. Somerville 0 6 0

Ctilloway, Map and Plates, by the Rev. S.

Smith 0 9 0

Hebrides, Map and Plates, by J. Macdon-

ald, A.M 110

Invernes3,Map and Plate, by the Rev'.Dr.

Robertson 0 14. 0

Kincardineshire, Map, by Mr. Robertson o li o Nairn and Moray, ditto, by the Rev. Wil- liam Leslie .. 0 14 o

Monmouthshire, Map, by Mr. Hassell, of

East Wood, Pembrokeshire... 0

NORTH WALES; containing the Counties of Anglesey,Caernnrvon, Denbigh, Flint, Merionydd, and Montgomery, by Wal- ter Davies, A.M. with Map and Plate.. 0 Norfolk, ditto.by A. Young, Esq ......... 0

- --- , ditto, by Mr. Kent ...... ........ o

Northamptonshire, ditto, by W.Pitt, Esq. o Northumberland, Cumberland, and West- morland, Map and I'iates, by Messrs. Bailey, Culley, and Pringle ............ o

Nottinghamshire, Map, by Robert Lowe. Esq .................................. o

Oxfordshire, Map and Plates, by A. Young, _ Es1 ................................... 0

Shropshire Map and Plates, by the Rev. J. Plymley,A.M ..................... 0

SOUTH WALES: containing the Counties of Brecon, Caermarthen, Cardigan, Gla- morgan, Pembroke, and Radnor , in Two Volumes, with Map and Plates; by Wal- ter Davies, A.M. Rector of Manafon, in Montgomeryshire .................... 1

Staffordshire, ditto, by Mr. Pitt .......... o

Suffolk, ditto, by A . Yo-aug, Esq. ...... I II! o

Surrey, Map, by Mr. Stevenson ....... ". o

Sussex, Plates, by the Rev. A . Young . . II o Warwickshire, Map ami Plate, by Mi- Murray ..................... . ........ „

Worcestershire, Map and Plates, by Mr. P'tt .................................. o

Wiltshire, Map ami Plates, by Mr. Davies 0 Yorkshire, (East Riding), ditto, by Mr. Strickland ......................... Q

Peebles, Map and Plates, by the Rev. C.

Findlater 0 10

Ross and Cromarty, Map, by Sir G. S.

Mackenzie .09

Roxburgh and Selkirk, Map and Plates, by

the Rev. Dr. Douglas o 9

Sutherland, Map and I'latea, by Captain

Henderson 012

West Lothian, ditto, by Mr. Trotter. II Ho 9

12 o

13 O 6 0 8 0

9 0

5 0

12 0

9 o

40 0 o 10 0 15 G 15 0

8 0

Report of the Committee of the Board of Agriculture, appointed to extract Infor- mation from the County Reports and other Authorities, concerning the Cul- ture and Use of Potatoes 07

f n"re r7vominended to the various AoRicviraiit Sociimj and Boos an aggregate of General Information/and point of Reference on all occasions.

Published by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones,

NEW AND ELEGANT WORK,

BRITISH FIELD SPORTS;

EMBRACING

SHOOTING, HUNTING, COURSING, RACING, FISHING, Sec. WITH OBSERVATIONS

OS THE

BREAKING AND TRAINING OF DOGS AND HORSES:

AISO, ON

FOWLING PIECES, AND ALL OTHER SPORTING IMPLEMENTS.

BY WILLIAM HENRY SCOTT.

This Work is beautifully printed on fine wove Paper, hot-pressed, and completed in 12 Part Pri<v 3.v. eneh, in Demy 8vo. and 5>. in Royal, except P;nt 12, the Price of which is 4*. Dem\ and It. llnyal. It is illustrated with upwards of Fifty highly -jinished Engravings, Thirty-four 6 Copper, executed, in the most characteristic Style of Excellence, by SCOTT, WAJIREN, GREK TOOKEY, D'.VENPORT, RANSON, and WEBB, from Paintiags by RKINAGLE, CLENNEI.L, Ei.vicr., an BARRENGER; the remainder are cut on Wood, by GLEN-NELL, THOMPSON, AUSTIN, and BKWICK.

*** The Afithor's object has been, to present, in as compressed a form as real utility woul admit, Instructions in all the various FIELD SPORTS, in Modern Practice; thereby forming book of general reference on the subject, and including, in one Volume, what could not othei wise b<; obtained, without purchasins; many and expensive ones. The means he has possess* for accomplishing so desirable a purpose, he trusts, have enabled him to produce such a Wor on the subject of FIELD SPORTS, a.-, in point of Paper, Printing, Illustration, and Embellisl ment, is not to be equalled in the Knirlish Language. Price of the Decay 8vo. Complett II. Itif. in Boards, and of the Royal, 3/. 0.9.

TOPOGRAPHY, HISTORY, AND BIOGRAPHY,

OF THE

I. THE

BEAUTIES

OF

antr

BEING

DELINEATIONS,

TOPOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL, AND BIOGRAPHICAL

OF THEIR SEVERAL COUNTIES:

IN TWENTY-FIVE VOLUMES;

Illustrated with upwards of

SEVEN HUNDRED COPPER-PLATE ENGRAVINGS,

KEPRESENTING

Public Edifices; Castles; Cathedrals; Parochial Churches, eminent

for Beauty or Antiquity of Architecture ; Monuments; Ruins;

Picturesque Scenery ; Seats of the Nobility and

Gentry ; Sfc. Sfc.

LONDON: Published by SHERWOOD, NEELY, and JONES, Paternoster Row, and COWIE and Co. Poultry.

N an age so liberal of patronage to Topographical Literature as the present, it /ould be superfluous to expatiate on the utility and importance of " THE BEAUTIES F ENCLAND AND WALES." It is presumed, the best recommendation of the Vork consists in an analysis of its plan, and a statement of the measures adopted l its execution.

From the time of Camden, whose " Britannia" constitutes so just a boast of

is Country, until the commencement of the nineteenth century, no Topographical

listory of the whole of England and Wales was performed from actual local

(•search. The " Magna Britannia," published between the years 1720 and 1731,

merely a compilation, although one of the most creditable of its kind. The labours

Mr Grose, and those of Mr. Gough, in addition to Camden, were devoted to irticular objects ; and, when conjoined, are lav from affording a satisfactory view

the existing state of the Country, or even of the whole of its Antiquities. npelled by these convictions, ami further induced by a persuasion that the increased irio&ity and intelligence of the times demanded such a Survey of Britain as should unbine an account of modern circumstances with that of ancient relics, the esent Work was undertaken : and the time and expense employed in its prosecution ;11, it is hoped, he deemed sufficient proofs of the sincere intention of the projectors

achieve a Survey worthy of NATIONAL approbation.

The labours of numerous Persons have been dedicated to this object for the long -in of seventeen years, and the whole sura expended exceeds Fifty Thousand wti'.s. Every County of England and Wales has been personally investigated • fl the value of the Work Las been considerably euhauced, by an extensive coins-

Published by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, Paternoster Row.

spondcnce having been procured ia each District with the resident Nobility, Gentry and Clergy.

Besides the works already noticed, there existed, previously to the appearance of " THE BEAUTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES," few sources of gratification to the public ardour for Topographical Investigation', except weighty and verj expensive County Histories, containing much laborious detail, of little or no importance to any but families locally interested in pedigrees and landed posses- sions. It has been the object of the present Work, to select from those ponderous tomes all particulars calculated for general perusal ; and, on the same principle, a free use (with due acknowledgment of the authorities quoted) has been made ol Leland, Caraden, Grose, Gough, and every other writer on local history. ThuSj the conductors have endeavoured to render " THE BEAUTIES OF ENGLAND *NE WALES" a compendious Library of Cborographical and Topographical Information,

The description of each County is commenced with a review of its general History, from the earliest period to the date of the writer's labours. The same prefatory parl involves an account of natural circumstances ; — of mines, with the modes in which they are worked, and their produce; — of agriculture; — and of every incidental branch of statistics which is deemed a probable object of public curiosity.

All the Cities. Towns, and principal Villages are historically noticed and cir- cumstantially described, so as to convey to the untravelled reader correct ideas respecting their prevailing aspect and public buildings. The most distinguished Seats in each County, including the historical and biographical events connected with those structures, and the works of art which they contain, — Churches, — Funeral Monuments, — Ruins of monastic Edifices, — military and sepulchral Earth Works,— and all the long catalogue of diversified Antiquities, which so highly enrich the scenery of 'this Island, and call forth sympathy and curiosity equally in the mind o! the resident and tourist, are likewise described from actual examination.

The numerous Engravings, illustrative of the above subjects, are executed by Artists of the first celebrity, from Drawings made on the spot.

" THE BEAUTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES," during the progress of theii publication in periodical Numbers, effected a memorable improvement in the em- bellishments ot Topographical Literature, by setting the first example of suet decorations as combine accuracy of representation with picturesque effect. By the adoption of a style, almost new to Topography, in which the superfluous is dis- carded, andol'jects of real interest are familiarly enforced, this Work lias likewise, during its long progress, greatly assisted in rendering local history an object oi fashionable study. Now that the whole Survey of "ENGLAND AND WALES" it completed, reliance is placed en the public patronage of a Work, which presents, at an expense comparatively small, the most accurate and comprehensive collection of Topographical Information that has been produced in this Country.

The Price of the Work complete is 30/. 2s. 6d. in boards, di-my 8vo. ; or, in royal Svo, with Proof Impressions of the Plates, 48J 4s.— •*»* Only a few Copies of the royal 8vo. can be had.

*** During the Publication of" THE BEAUTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES," as the Numbers did not appear in regular succession, it is /tared, there are man] SETS in the hands of Subscribers incomplete. THESE SETS the preterit Proprietor^ recommend to be completed immediately ; as the Work is now selling in sq-aiate Counties, and there is reason to believe that several of the Numbers requisite tft supply such deficiencies will shortly be unattainable. — The following List will enable persons to ascertain whether their SETS are complete, ' or not . viz- Vol. 1 to 9, comprehending No. 1 to 72, and No. 61*, 62*, 63*, 64*, 65*. Vol. 10 ----- 1 to 40. 10, Part iv. - - — 1 to 10. 11 — 1 to 10.

12, two Parts - — 1 to 18.

13, two Parts - — 1 to 16. 14 — 1 to 12.

15, two Parts - — 1 to 21, and No. 7*.

16 — 1 to 12.

17 — 1 to 12.

18 — 1 to 12.

and Cowie and Co. Poultry, London.

PUBLICATION OF

of ©ttBlanti anft

IN SEPARATE COUNTIES.

Persons desirous of possessing a complete, although not voluminous, Historical and Topographic 1 1 Description or any particular County, which is rendered of pro- minent interest in their esteem by birth, residence, or the possession of property, are respectfully informed, their wish may now he gratified. In previous stages of this Work, the Plates were scattered indiscriminately throughout the different Volumes. Thus, though the Letter-Press might be procured separately, every individual County was incomplete, in regard to illustrative Engravings.

Each County is now submitted to the Puhlic, in a separate and complete form ; the respective Plates occupying the situations for which they were originally designed, and a Map, executed under the inspection of the Editors, being prefixed toVach. Volume. M'tch public accommodation must result from this measure; as persons not extending their Views to the entire Work, are now enabled to obtain, on easy terms, an Authentic Account of the Counties in which they reside, and of those surrounding them, forming the sphere of their local Connections.

List of the COUNTIES, the Number of Plates with which each is illustrated, #c. viz..

			/. s. d.
Bedfordshire	— by Mr. Britton and Mr. Brayley, with a Map and 6 plates 046
Berkshire	— do. — do. —	do. 14 do.	090
Buckinghamshire	— do. — do. —	do. 9 do.	060
Cambridgeshire	— by Mr. Brayley and Mr. Britton,	do. 8 do.	090
Cheshire	— do. — do. —	do. 6 do.	0 6 O
Cornwall	— do. — do. —	do. 9 do.	090
Cumberland	— by Mr. Britton and Mr. Brayley,	do. 10 do.	0 10 0
Derbyshire	— do. — do. —	do. SI do.	0 12 0
Devonshire	— do. — do. —	do. 31 do.	0 13 0
Dorsetshire	— do. — do. —	do. 1 1 do.	0 10 O
Durham —	— by Mr. Brayley and Mr. Britton,	do. 7 do.	090
Es«ex —	— do. — do. —	do 19 do.	0 12 O
Gloucwterthire	— do. — do. —	do	11 do.	0 10 O
Hampshire	— do. — do. —	do	15 do.	0 14 0
Herefordihire	— do. — do. —	do	10 do.	0 10 0
Hertfordshire	— by, Mr. Brayley do. —	do	17do.	0 12 0
Huntingdonshire	— do. — do. —	do	3 do.	090
Kent —	— do. — do. —	do	37 do.	1 10 0
Lancashire	— by Mr. Brittbn do. —	do	14 do.	0 10 O
Leicestershire	— do. — do. —	do	5 do.	0100
Lincolnshire	— do. — do. —	do	7 do.	» 10 0
Monmouthshire	— by the Rev. J- Evans and Mr. Britton,	do	lido.	080
Norfolk —	— by Mr. Britton and Mr. Brayley,	do	SO do.	0 15 0
Northamptonshire	— do. — do. —	do	7 do.	•0 9 0
Nonhumbertand	— bv the Rev. J. Hodgson	do	11 do.	090
Nottinghamshire	— by Mr. Laird do. —	do	10 do.	0 IS 0
Oxfordshire	— by Mr. J. N. Brewer	do	91 do.	0 18 0
Rutlandshire	— by Mi. 1 aird — —	do	4 do.	050
Staffordshire	— by the Rev. J. Nightingale —	do	14 do.	0 16 O
Shropshire	do, — — —	do	Si do.	0 14 0
Somersetshire	— do. — — —	do	11 do.	0 IS 0
Suffolk —	— by Mr. Shoberl	do	13 do.	0 14 0
Surrey —	— do. — — —	do	13 do. '	0 10 6
Sussex —	— d... — — —	do	9rt...	080
Warwickshire	— by Mr. J. N. Biewer	do	16 do.	0 12 0
Westmorland	— by the Rev J Hodgson —	do	6 do.	080
Wiltshire	— by Mr. Britton — —	do	IB do.	1 4 I)
Worcestershire	— by Mr. Laird — —	do	14 do.	o is e
Wales iNorth)	— by the Rev. J. Evans —	do	29 do.	1 4 0
(South	— by the Kev. T. kets, F. S. A. —	do	33 d.i.	1 4 0
Yorkshire	— by Mr. J. Bigland — with 4 Maps and 85 do.	1 10 0

Published by Shcrwcod &; Co. ar,d Cowie 5? Co. London.

That portion of " THE BEAUTIES of ENGLAND and WALES," comprehending the METROPOLIS and the COUNTY in which it is situated, is a Work of the greatest Interest, and entitled

LONDON AND MIDDLESEX,

OR, AN

HISTORICAL, A COMMERCIAL, AND DESCRIPTIVE SURVEY

Oi>~ il. i.

jHetropolts of (great Britain ;

WITH

SKETCHES OF ITS ENVIRONS*

And a Topographical Account of the most remarkable Places in the County. It consists of Five Volumes, which are illustrated with up\vards of ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY ENGRAVINGS. The first three Volumes comprise an Historical and Topographical Account of LONDON. The Fourth Volume contains tin; History and Description of WESTMINSTER. The Hfih Volume is appro- priated to A TOPOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, and is dedicated, by permission, to his Grace, the DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND.-— Price 61. 6s. smalt, in boards, or, lOi. large.

THE INTRODUCTION to " THE BEAUTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES," comprising a Series of Dissertations on the History and Antiquities of the uJEras most important in Topographical Researches, l>y Mr. J. N. BIIEWER, is also sold separately. Price 11. 4s. boards, small, or, II. 11s. 6d. large.

This part of the Work presents a digest of the opinions contained in the most judicious Antiquarian Writings (often voluminous, recondite, and costly), on the various topics selected for discussion. It is intended to supply a desideratum long i'elt in English Literature, by enabling the reader to ascertain, with as much pre- cision as is practicable, the dates of Ecclesiastical and Military Antiquities, and ihe people by whom they were constructed. *

(fdr The present Proprietors, desirous of rendering this Work complete, and worthy of National Encouragement, respectfully infoim the Public, they are pre- paring Antiquarian, Topographical, and Historical Surveys of " IRELAND" and " SCOTLAND," accompanied with Biographical Notices of EMINENT PERSON* resident in each County, intended to class with " THE BEAUTIES of ENGLAND and WALES." for the execution of these additional Volumes, so justly deemed by tin: Subscribers indispensible towards the completion of this undertaking, they have selected literary men of acknowledged experience in Topographical and Antiquarian writings, and artists of the first celebrity. They pledge themselves to the (insertion, that no expense or efforts shall be wanting in an endeavour to render every part worthy of public patronage ; and the arrangements preclude the possibility of the Work extending beyond its specified. limits t

" THE BEAUTIES OF IRELAND" will be comprised in Two Volumes, which will be published in Monthly Numbers, in Royal Octavo and Demy Octavo, with Letter-press Illustrations, to correspond with " THE BEAUTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES."

" THE BEAUTIES OF SCOTLAND" will also be comprised in Two Volumes, and published in Monthly Numbers. &,c. the same as above stated.

Paternoster Row, London. 5

In the course of January, 1820, will be published, in One Volume, Quarto, elegantly printed on fine Paper and Jiul-pressed,

THE

SPORTSMAN'S REPOSITORY,

COMPRISING A COMPLETE

SERIES OF HIGHLY-FINISHED ENGRAVINGS,

REPRESENTING THE

antr

IN ALL THEIR VARIETIES; EXECUTED IN THE LINE MANNER

BY JOHiN SCOTT,

FROM ORIGINAL PAINTINGS BY MARSHALL, REINAGLE, GILPIN, STUBBS, AND COOPER:

A comprehensive historical and systematic Description of the DIFFERENT SPECIES OF EACH,

WITH THEIR APPROPRIATE USES, MANAGEMENT, IMPROVEMENT, &c.

INTERSPERSED WITH

INTERESTING ANECDOTES OF THE MOST CELEBRATED HORSES AND DOGS, AND

THEIR, OWNERS;

Likewise, a great Variety of Practical -Information on Training' and the Amusements of the Field.

BY WILLIAM HENRY SCOTT,

Author of " BRITISH FIELD SPORTS."

No selection from the great store-house of Nature is more likely to merit general attention, or to excite general interest, than the HORSE and the DOG. To the former, we are indebted for the power of transporting ourselves from place to place with speed and comfort, and for the means of participating in the manly and health- ful Sports of the Field ; while the labours of agriculture, and the pursuits of commerce, are no less indebted to it for increased activity and productiveness. From the well- bred hunter down to the hapless drudge of the sand-cart, through all the interme- diate gradations, we see the valuable properties of the Horse made available to the wants and the pleasures of man. Can it be doubted then, that a Work which pro- fesses to invite the embellishments of Art with the inquiries of Science, in developing all the varieties of this Animal, will meet with an adequate Patronage?

But it is not on this ground alone that it aspires to Patronage. It takes a wider range ; and, by including in its design, the history, the qualities, and the different breeds of the Doo — that half- reasoning friend and companion of Man — it enlarges its claims to general reception. Who is there that has not, at some period of his life, ac- knowledged th« influence of an attachment between himself and his Dog? Who is

Published by Sherwood, Ncely, and Jones,

there that does not recognise in this faithful, vigilant, sagacious, humble, and silent friend, the possessor of qualities, which are not always to be found in the human and more talkative friend? Poetry and Eloquence have jiot disdained to employ them- selves in celebrating the virtues of the canine race; and the Historian of it therefore may hope to have his theme applauded.

It is only necessary further to observe, that the literary execution and graphic em- bellishments of this work will not be unworthy of the subjects delineated. With respect to the latter, the Proprietors confidently anticipate that the names of the Artists employed will be a sufficient gustemtee-; while the former will be the production of an OLD and EXPERIENCED SPORTSMAN.

The following are the Subjects of the PLATES which will embellish the

Work, viz. :

1. GODOLPHIN ARABIAN, the Property of

Lord Godolphin.

2. ARABIAN, the Property of the Right

Hon. Henry Wellesley.

3. ECLIPSE and SIUKSPEAPE, two celebrat-^

ed Racers.

4. KING HEP.OD and FLYING CHILDERS,

the Property of the Duke of De- vonshire.

5. STALLION, Jupiter, the Property of

Lieut.-Col. Thornton.

6. CiiARGEn, the Property of Major-Gen.

Warde.

1. SHEPHERD'S Doc-

2. NEWFOUNDLAND DOG.

3. GREENLAND Doc.

4. POINTER.

5. SPANISH POINTER.

6. SETTER.

7. SPRINGER.

8. WATER SPANIEL.

7. 8.

9. 10.

11.

12.

13.

HUNTER, Duncomlie, the Property of

Geo. Treacher, Esq. RACER, Eleanor, the Property of Sir

Chas. Bunbury, Bart. HACKNEY, Roan Billy, COACH-HORSE, the Property of Henry

Villnbois, Esq. CART-HORSE, Dumpling, the Property

of Messrs. Home and Devey. PONIES — Shetland, Forester, and JFelsh

— the Property of Jacob Wardell,

Esq. A MULE, the Property of Lord Holland,

and AN Ass.

9. STAC HOUND.

10. Fox HOUNDS.

11. GREYHOUND.

12. IRISH GREYHOUND.

13. ITALIAN GREYHOUNDS.

14. BLOOD HOUND.

15. SOUTHERN HOUND.

16. BEAGLES.

\~ . HARRIER. IS. TEKRIEHS.

19. LURCHER.

20. WATER DOG.

21. BULL Doc.

22. MASTIFF.

23. DALMATIAN.

24. PUGS.

*.(<* It will bt further embellished ncith numerous beautiful emblematical READ and TAIL PIECES.

THE PRACTICAL PLANTER, or, a Treatise on Forest Planting;

comprehending the Culture and Management of planted and natural Timbtr, in every Stage of its Growth: also, the Culture and Management of Hedge Fences, and the Construction of Stone Walls, &c. By WALTER NICOL. Price 7s. Boards.

PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS on the BRITISH GRASSES, especi-

ally such as are best adapted to the laying down or improving of Meadows and Pastures; with an enumeration of the British Grasses : By WILLIAM CURTIS, F L.S. Author of the " Flora Londmensjg," " Botanical Magazine," " Lectures on Botany," &c. 5th Edition, with Additions. The whole digested and brought down to the present Period, by JOHN LAWRENCE, Author of the " New Farmer's Calendar," &.c. To which is subjoined, a ?hort Account of the Causes of the Diseases in Corn, by SIH JOSEPH BANKS, Bart. Price 6s. ; or, with the Plates coloured, 8s. (id. Boards.

THE GRAZIER'S READY-RECKONER, or, a useful Guide for Buying and Selling Cattle; being a complete set of Tables, distinctly pointing out the Weight of Black Cattle, Sheep, and Swine, from Three to One Hundred and Thirty" Stones, by mvimtre- ment ; with Directions, showing the particular parts where the Cattle are to be measured. By GEORGE RENTON, Banner/ A new Edition, corrected. Price 2s. 6d. sewed.

Paternoster Row, London.

THE UNIVERSAL GARDENER AND BOTANIST, or, a General

Dictionary o 'Gardening and Botany; exhibiting in Botanical Arrangement, according to

By the same Author,

EVERY MAN HIS OWN GARDENER; bring a new and mucl, more

GENEL

LAY, Esq. 1 lurd Ldition ; with Additions, on Breedm- Feedine- and Managing Swme, and M.lch Cows for the Family Dairy. Price ^ Boards"'

HARDING'S FARMER'S ACCOUNT-BOOK; contaiuing ruled Tables

for keeping with ease and accuracy the following Accounts, viz.

1. A Journal of Occurrences on the Farm.

2. A daily Statement of Labour performed.

3. A Weekly Cash Account.

4. A Weekly Account of Live Stock.

5. The Produce and Consumption of

Com, Hay, Potatoes, &c. G. The Dairy Account. 7. Annual Receipts and Expenses.

Eleventh Edition, Improved. To be continued Annuallv. Price of the above, for a whole Year, 2is. sewed. Ditto, a half year, 10s. 6U

A PRACTICAL TREATISE on BREWING the various Sorts of MALT

>R; with Examples of each Species, and the Mode of using the Tbermomete- and

•BO ™??t£r> Trendered ea*y to every capacity : the « hole forming a COMPLETE G HIDE

-LWl^G London Porter, Brown Stout, Reading Beer, Amber, Hock, London -Vie

\V indsor Ale, Welch Ale, Wirtemberg Ale, Scurvy-Grass Ale, and Table and Snipping Beerl

to winch are added, General Instructions for making Malt, and Tables of the Net D°uties of

!L^A°^^rTgVTanlp^arb!e ^ ^f'6 by C°mm0n Brewers' ln Town aud CountT. By ALEXANDER MORRICE, Common Brewer. Six.h Edition ; w:th the Laws relating tc Brewers, Maltsters, and Innkeepers. By JOHN WILLIAMS, Esq. Price 10s. (3d. Boards

COMMUNICATIONS to the BOARD of AGRICULTURE, on Subjects relative to the Husbandry and Internal Improvement of the Country. A New S*in vol. I. Part I. Price 4s. Boards.

WHITE'S FARRIERY; containing an accurate Description of the Diseases

of the Horse, and their best Mode of Treatment: with numerous Practical Observat

rirprrceHjr4;.cSdssheep' *™> and Doss- iiiustiated ^ piat- tfpSSz

By the same Author, A Compendious DICTIONARY of the VETERINARY ART ; containing

a concise Explanation of the various Terms used in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery - with

Antall ^riceTS'o ", ' lSCaSeS ° ^ "^ " ^ " ^ °f

A TREATISE on the BREEDING and MANAGEMENT of BEES to

e greatest Advantage; interspersed ,.ith important Observations, adapted to general Pncefe Boards ' " °f Ex^nments durinS ™«? Years.' ByP JOHN KEYS.

AN INTRODUCTION to the SCIENCE of BOTANY- chiefly c &*8? ^ f°'"kS of LlSK-*»s= to which are added, several NEw'-fABLES a th p y,>hCp atC JAMES LEE' Nurseryffian ™« Florist at the Vineyard/Hamme smith. Fourth Edition ; c<,r,vcted and considerably enlarged, by JAMB. LM Shn

"

3 Published 1>y Shirwood, AVe/y, and Jones , London.

CURTIS'S BOTANICAL MAGAZINE, or, Flower Garden displavi-d ;

in which tlte most Ornamental Foreign Plants, cultivated in the Open Ground, the Green- House, and the Stove, are accurately represented in their natural Colours. To which are added, their Names, Class, Order, Generic, and Specific Characters, according to the cele- tyated Linnaeus ; with their Places of Growth, Times of Flowering, and the most approved Methods of Culture.

This Work contains Figures, accurately dra*-n anil coloured from Nature, of more than 2000 Plant*, cultivated in Gardens, chiefly in tlie Kir- irons of London; and each Figure is accompanied with a page or more of Letter-press, containing such information as was thought to be most desirable, to all such persons as wKh to become scicntifirally acquainted with the Plants they cultivate. Con- tinued since the Death of Mr. Curtis, by JOHN S«*, M.D. F.R.S. and L.S. The Forty-fifth folunir, or, Tliinl of Vie ffew Sertt*,of this Work is just completed; and the Entire fort, or any of the Volumes, may be had, the first Forty-Two at One Guinea each, and the subsequent Volumes, containing double the Quantity of the others, at Two Guineas each ; or, any Numbers may be bad separately, to com- plete SETS.

The BOTANICAL MAGAZINE will continue to be published on the first day of every Month, in \itn,i>ers, containing eight Plates, price .j*. <?</.; and no pains or expense will be spared to keep up the credit of a Work, which has hitherto met with almost unexampled encouragement.

HOItTUS CANTABRIGIENS1S ; or, an Accented Catalogue of Plants,

Indigenous and Exotic, cultivated in the Cambridge Botanic Garden. By the late JAMES DONN, Curator, Fellow of the Linnaean and Horticultural Societies. Ninth Edition, im- proved and augmented, with references to Figures of Plants, by FREDERICK PURSH, Author of the " Flora of North America." Price 10s. tk/. Boards.

JUVENILE BOTANY ; being an Easy Introduction to that delightful

Science, through the Medium of Familiar Conventions. By ROBERT JOHN THORN- TON, M.D. Lecturer on Botany at Guy's Hospital. Illustrated with 15 elegant Plates. ID one Volume, 12mo. Price 8s. in Boards, plain, or 12*. coloured.

DOBSON'S KUNOP^DIA; being a PRACTICAL ESSAY on the Breaking or Training the ENGLISH SPANIEL, or POINTER: with Instructions for attain- ing the Art of SHOOTING FLYING; in which the latter is reduced to Rule, and the former inculcated on Principles. By the late WILLIAM DOBSON, Esq. of Eden Hall, Cumber- land. In One Volume, 8vo. Price lOs. 6rf. Boards.

THE SPORTSMAN'S CALENDAR; or, Monthly Remembrancer of

Field Diversions. By W. II. SCOTT, Author of " British Field Sports." Elegantly printed in a neat Pocket Size, and hot-pressed. Price os. in Boards, or bound as a Pocket Book, Is. *^* The Publishers of this Epitome confidently recommend it to the Sporting ff'oria, as containing a greater body of Sporting Intel licence, wiih the existing Game Laws, than is to be round in any other publication of a similar size and price: in addition \ti which, there are four ruled Pages at the end •of each Month, for the purpose of noting Engagements, making1 Memoranda, &c. &c.

RECREATIONS, in NATURAL HISTORY, or, Popular Sketches of

British Quadrupeds ; describing their Nature, Habits, and Dispositions, and interspersed with Original Anecdotes : embellished with numerous Engravings :,nd Wood-Cuts, from Portraits of Living Animals, painted by tie Fir>t Masters. Price 2/. 8$. Boards.

SONGS of the CHASE, including those on RACING, SHOOTING,

ANGLING, HAWKING, ARCHERY, &c. Handsomely printed" in foolscap 8vo. price 0j. in Boards, with appropriate Embellishments.

" This Collection has been made with much judgment and industry. The book is exquisitely •printed on fine paper, nnd embellished with two beautiful Engravings, viz. the Title and Frontis- piece, the joint efforts of Mr. Marshall, the Animal Painter, and Mr. John Scott, the Kngraver. There is, likewise, a Tail-piece, engraved on wood, representing, in miniature, the joys of the table after a fox-chase.''— Sporting Magazine.

THE CHASE: to which is annexed, FIELD SPORTS. By WILLIAM

SOMERVILE, E<<I. Wilh a Sketch of the Author's Life, including a Preface, Critical and "Explanatory, and some Annotations on the Text and Nature of the Poem, by EDWARD TOPHAM, Esq. Elegantly printed in foolscap 8vo. and illustrated with Engravings by Mr. •SCOTT. Price 6s. Boards.

BOXIANA; or, SKETCHES of ANCIENT and MODERN PUGI- LISM ; including every Battle, from the Days of Broughtov and Figg, to the Championship of Crib; with the Aae, Wtight, Style of Fightinz, and Character of each Pugilist: embel- lished with original Portraits, and interspersed wiih a great Variety of characteristic Anec- dotes, never before made public, &r. By P. EGAN. Dedicated to Capt. BARCLAY. Price 12s. in Boards.

* • From the very flattering Jtcc(pf{on, and eactetitire Sate the abort Volume has experienced, the Author hat been induced to offer a Second Volume to the Patronage of the Sporting tforU,

entitled,

BOXlAivA; or, SKETCHES of MODERN PUGILISM: including

every Pugilistic Exploit, from the Period of Crib's Championship, down to the Fight be- tween PAINTFH and SPRING, on the 1st of April, 1S18; with the Age, Weight, Style of Fight- in?, and Clnrccttr of each Pugilist, a Variety of original Anecdotes, Songs, &c. Embel- lished with original Portraits. Dedic-ated to the EARL of YARMOUTH. Pr.ce U». in Boards.

N. K. These Two Volumes form a Coinplot* Boxing' Calendar and Book of Reference on the *»bjcct. They may be kad separately. ^

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.

UMJRL MY 8- f965

RECEIVED LD-URl

NOV 51965

AM 7-4 4-9 t

A

PM

000 961 840

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THIS BOOK CARDS

iS

>« 0

X

a at a « s 8 a B U S

a

8

a

B

8

University Research Library

• 1

•

•